Creating Safety: child protection in the arts

You may be an individual freelancer working with children and young people, a small, medium or large-sized organisation or a company employing staff and volunteers to work with children and young people. The work may be a one-off activity or a project that will run indefinitely.

Whatever the context, the overall aim will be to create the safest possible environment for children and young people, where they can feel safe and comfortable, are treated equitably and with respect, and where they are given freedom to have fun and develop their independence and creativity.

Creating Safety is not a step-by-step guide. This is because every project, situation and, indeed, every child is unique – rules, regulations and procedures on their own cannot compensate for using common sense, experience and sound professional judgement to anticipate and respond appropriately to different situations.

There are, however, elements of good practice that will help you to minimise risk and create the kind of positive environment described above. It is important to remember that you cannot eliminate risk entirely.

Children and young people require exciting and challenging opportunities and an approach which carefully balances the benefits of an activity with the acceptable risks will help ensure they do not miss out.

Creating Safety 2019 edition

This is the third edition of Creating Safety, produced in partnership by Creative Scotland and Children in Scotland. It was first published in 2011 and updated in 2014. The 2019 edition provides you with the most up-to-date information available at the time of publishing.