Division 88
Social Work
Requirements for all social work
These requirements apply to all business activities in this division.
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 — general duties
Enforced by HSE
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
General duty to protect employees and others affected by the business — care workers, service users in their own homes, and people attending day settings.
Employers' Liability Insurance
Enforced by HSE
Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969
Required for any business employing at least one person.
UK GDPR + Data Protection Act 2018
Enforced by ICO
Data Protection Act 2018; UK GDPR (retained EU law)
Social care and child day-care providers process extensive special-category personal data (health, care assessments, safeguarding records, children's records). ICO registration unless exempt.
Equality Act 2010 — protected characteristics
Enforced by EHRC
Equality Act 2010
No discrimination in employment or in the provision of care and support services. The public sector equality duty also applies to providers exercising public functions on behalf of a local authority.
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
Enforced by LOCAL_FIRE_AUTHORITY
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
Applies to the provider's own premises — offices, day centres, child day-care settings (it does not apply to a service user's private home where care is delivered). The 'responsible person' must carry out and maintain a fire risk assessment. Devolved: Fire (Scotland) Act 2005; Fire and Rescue Services (NI) Order 2006.
Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 — fire safety duties
Enforced by LOCAL_FIRE_AUTHORITY
Fire (Scotland) Act 2005
Scottish equivalent of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, covering the provider's own premises — offices, day centres, child day-care settings (not a service user's private home). The duty holder must carry out a fire risk assessment and maintain fire precautions, enforced by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
Fire risk assessment and precautions (Northern Ireland)
Enforced by LOCAL_FIRE_AUTHORITY
Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010; Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006
Northern Ireland equivalent of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010, made under the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, require the appropriate person to carry out a fire risk assessment and maintain fire precautions, enforced by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.
DBS check — healthcare for children (regulated activity)
Enforced by DBS
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006; The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (Regulated Activity, Devolution and Miscellaneous Provisions) Order 2010
Providing healthcare to a child is regulated activity, so anyone you employ or engage to do it needs an enhanced DBS check including the children's barred list, and it is an offence to let a barred person do the work. There is no frequency test for this limb: once is enough. Scotland runs the PVG scheme through Disclosure Scotland and Northern Ireland uses AccessNI.
DBS check — healthcare for adults by a regulated professional (regulated activity)
Enforced by DBS
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006; The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (Regulated Activity, Devolution and Miscellaneous Provisions) Order 2010
Healthcare for an adult is regulated activity when it is provided by a regulated health care professional, or by someone acting under one's direction or supervision. Both facts have to hold: a business with no registered practitioner is not in this limb, and a registered practitioner who only treats children is in the children's limb instead. Staff doing the work need an enhanced DBS check including the adults' barred list.
DBS check — personal care for children (regulated activity)
Enforced by DBS
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006; The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (Regulated Activity, Devolution and Miscellaneous Provisions) Order 2010
Personal care for a child — help with washing, dressing, eating or going to the toilet, or training or supervising someone doing it — is regulated activity from the first time it is provided. Staff need an enhanced DBS check including the children's barred list.
DBS check — personal care for adults (regulated activity)
Enforced by DBS
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006; The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (Regulated Activity, Devolution and Miscellaneous Provisions) Order 2010
Personal care for an adult is regulated activity whatever the setting, and the test is the activity rather than whether the adult is thought vulnerable. Staff need an enhanced DBS check including the adults' barred list, and it is an offence to let a barred person do the work.
DBS check — supervising or managing regulated activity
Enforced by DBS
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006; The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (Regulated Activity, Devolution and Miscellaneous Provisions) Order 2010
Day-to-day management or supervision of people carrying out regulated activity is regulated activity in its own right, so a registered manager or a supervisor needs the check even if they never provide care themselves.
PVG Scheme membership and safeguarding (regulated work)
Enforced by DISCLOSURE_SCOTLAND
Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007
Scotland's equivalent of the DBS regime: where staff or volunteers carry out 'regulated work' with children or protected adults — social work, personal care or child day-care overwhelmingly meets this test — the provider must ensure they are a member of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme, run by Disclosure Scotland, before they start, and must refer anyone who harms or poses a risk.
AccessNI enhanced disclosure and barred-list checks
Enforced by ACCESS_NI
The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007
Northern Ireland's equivalent of the DBS regime: staff providing social work, personal care or child day-care are engaged in 'regulated activity', so an enhanced AccessNI disclosure with barred-list checks is required, and it is an offence to employ a barred person in regulated activity.