Safe360°How to recognise and respond to a concern

Safeguarding at Strathclyde is made up of simple actions:

Recognise

You may become aware of harmful behaviours that you believe the University should know about. This could include:

  • physical abuse or assault
  • sexual abuse or assault
  • emotional abuse
  • neglect
  • financial abuse or exploitation
  • criminal exploitation
  • human trafficking and modern slavery
  • radicalisation Bullying
  • discrimination
  • harassment
  • sexual Misconduct
  • gender-based violence
  • hate crime
  • forced marriage

Find out more about signs of harmful behaviour - Types and indicators of abuse: Safeguarding adults, from Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)

Report

Our online reporting tool is called Report and Support, and it is for everyone.

It is a secure place to disclose issues that relate to the safety and wellbeing of any member of the Strathclyde community who may be at risk of harm, through their own actions or the actions of others. This may include:

  • disclosure of harm
  • you may have concerns that a person is at risk
  • you may see or that you suspect abuse is happening to someone else
  • or you may want to report misconduct.

This can include visitors, such as members of the public accessing the services, third-party contractors such as builders or maintenance staff, as well as guest speakers.

If you believe a concern requires an urgent response, please contact University Security.

University staff can report a safeguarding concern to their line manager or Head of Department, or by using Report and Support.

Students and visitors can report a concern using Report and Support, to the Student Experience Helpdesk, University Security or their academic department.

Support

Reports are by the received Report and Support Response Team and assessed to establish what immediate action is needed. They can:

  • help you find appropriate support from within the University, and signpost external agencies 
  • discuss your options for taking your report forward if you wish to, and explain how formal University processes work  
  • help you register a formal complaint in cases where staff or students may have breached University policies

Information shared in Report and Support will be treated with discretion and only be shared where necessary in order to make decisions about the next steps and to identify the support available. In most cases, we will not act without consulting the reporter. 

However, staff cannot promise absolute confidentiality if there are serious safeguarding concerns raised in your report, and they believe there is a person at risk. The University has a duty of care to escalate any concerns of risk to life, or harm to others.  

Please visit Report and Support for more information.