The Volunteering Service will support UCL students to deliver in-person and online community volunteering projects. Student-Led Projects are permitted to run in-person activity as long as these activities comply with current government and UCL guidelines.
Volunteering Service Student-Led Projects cannot conduct any project related activity until their project has a risk assessment approved within the current academic year.
What needs to be included in my project’s risk assessment?
A new SLP Risk Assessment Form must be completed for all activity a Volunteering Service Student-Led Project intends to undertake during the current academic year. This includes activities related to volunteer recruitment, recruiting partner organisations and volunteering sessions with participants.
When do I need to submit my risk assessment form?
Your risk assessment form must be submitted at least 4 weeks before any activity associated with the Student-Led Project is undertaken. This includes activities related to volunteer recruitment as well as volunteering sessions with participants.
How do I complete the risk assessment form?
You must read the relevant sections of the Volunteering Service’s Health & Safety Manual before completing this form. When completing the SLP Risk Assessment Form ensure that you:
- Identify whether each Activity Type will be delivered in-person or remotely.
- Risk assess all of the activities that you intend to deliver this academic year. Examples of activities that need to be included in your risk assessment are:
- Workshop activities
- Volunteer recruitment activities
- Activities related to the recruitment of partner organisations
- Identify all of the potential hazards associated with each Activity Type. Please use a new row for each hazard identified so that the risk assessment is clear and the control measures and actions assigned to each hazard can be easily identified. Use the Hazard Checklist tab, of the risk assessment form, to help you.
- Complete the Additional Information tab, to help you identify other potential hazards associated with your planned activities. You can also view our Template Risk Assessments for guidance on how to complete the risk assessment form. It is completely fine for you to copy and paste the relevant rows into the risk assessment form.
Note that if your project delivered volunteering activities last academic year, and you plan to deliver the same activities in the new academic year, you can email us to request a copy of the approved risk assessment from the last academic year, so that you can amend this document directly.
Will I still be able to run my project if the government imposes another lockdown?
All Project Leaders must abide by current government and UCL guidelines, therefore you will not be permitted to deliver in-person activity if the government puts the country back into lockdown. For that reason, we advise all Student-Led Projects to develop a contingency plan which they can implement if they cannot deliver as planned. Please note that you will need to include this contingency plan in your risk assessment so that you can put it into action when needed.
How do I submit my risk assessment form?
Your completed risk assessment form needs to be submitted using your Student-Led Project’s webpage. Email [email protected] if you are unable to access your project’s webpage.
Can I start delivering activities related to my Student-Led Project as soon as I have submitted my risk assessment form?
Project Leaders are not permitted to undertake any activities associated with their Student- Led Project until their risk assessment has been approved. This includes volunteer recruitment activities. Please ensure that you submit your risk assessment at least 4 weeks before you intend to start any activities related to your project, so that we have enough time to review it and provide you with any feedback.
Your activities are not covered by Students’ Union UCL insurance until your Student-Led Project has an approved risk assessment for the current academic year.
I have applied for a stall at a Volunteering Service Volunteering Fair. Can I still attend, if my project does not have an approved risk assessment?
To secure a stall at one of our Volunteering Fairs, all of the Project Leaders for your Student- Led Project (SLP) will need to have signed our Project Leader Agreement. In addition to this, your project will need to have an approved risk assessment, for the current academic year. We have introduced these new measures to ensure that we only promote safe volunteering opportunities at our Volunteering Fairs.
What should I do if I want to run activities not included in my approved risk assessment?
If you wish to carry out any additional activities not logged in your approved risk assessment, you must submit an additional Risk Assessment form at least 4 weeks prior to the new activity or event taking place.
Should I share the risk assessment with my partner organisation?
Once your risk assessment has been approved, it is good practise to share it with your partner organisation.
Do I need to share my risk assessment with my volunteers?
It is good practise to share your project’s risk assessment with your volunteers. The best way to do this is during an induction meeting, where you can highlight the key hazards, control measures that you will be implementing as well as outlining any actions that should be taken if an incident occurs.
Please also make sure all volunteers are aware of the Accident & Emergency Procedure. You should share this with all of your volunteers.
Please contact us if you have any further questions regarding completing a risk assessment. You can also view our Template Risk Assessments for guidance on how to complete the risk assessment form.