Club Safeguarding Officers

All Cricket Clubs must have a Club Safeguarding Officer (CSO). CSO’s are an important part of a Club’s volunteer structure and Northants Cricket are here to support you.

It shouldn’t be forgotten that Safeguarding is the responsibility of everyone at the Club and not just the CSO.

The CSO is the contact point for everyone within the Club and then in turn with the County Safeguarding Officer. They are also the person at the Club who implements the ECB’s Safe Hands Policy and helps the Club demonstrate its duty of care.

Club Safeguarding Officer Support

The CSO attends A ‘Safe Hands’ Course and completes an online ‘Safeguarding Young Cricketers’ learning module. They are then supported by the County Safeguarding Officer and their deputy.

Safe Hands Management System (SHMS)

The SHMS is an ECB online Club Management Tool used by Cricket Clubs to collect information relating to those people with responsibility for running the Club. These people will include Administrators, Coaches and Captains. The system is often used by the Club Safeguarding Officer as it allows for key safeguarding background information (DBS details for example) to be collected and stored.

ECB Safeguarding Kit Bag Resources

The ECB have provided a wide range of resources, templates and documents that will be useful in setting up a safeguarding environment. All these resources will help to put things in place at your cricket club to make it a fun and safe environment for all. Click here to access the safeguarding kit bag.

Disclosure and Barring Service Checks (DBS)

If you need a DBS for cricket then it must be and ECB DBS.

A wide range of volunteer roles in a Cricket Club need a DBS, there include but not exclusively coaches, umpires, team managers and team captains. The Club Safeguarding Officer has access to the ECB guidance on roles requiring a DBS.

The process for obtaining a DBS starts online and finishes with ID verification completed by an ID Verifier. Often the CSO is an ID Verifier. A good option when completing the DBS is to select the Update Service. This negates future need to go through the process as the DBS service updates your DBS annually.

There are different rules and processes for obtaining a DBS if you are an overseas player/coach.