Scope

• Policy statement

• Group Administrator

• Group Members

• Clinical responsibility

• General Rules

• Confidentiality / Data Protection

• Complaints / Grievance

 

Policy Statement

The OTforOH Ltd networking group is an informal group for occupational therapists (OTs) who work in, or have an interest in, the field of occupational health (OH).

 

In this group, OTforOH Ltd intends to provide the opportunity for networking, peer support and sharing innovations, news or best practice. The intention and spirit of this group is informal, friendly and supportive.

 

This group consists of three components

1. A monthly, virtual Zoom networking meeting, for OTs to meet, ask questions, share ideas, knowledge and experiences and support each other.

2. WhatsApp group, allowing information to be shared quickly and securely between OTforOH Ltd networking group members.

3. Emailing list, managed via Mailerlite, for OTforOH Ltd to send out reminders and Zoom links to the networking meetings. As well as sharing relevant information about training opportunities, policy, requests or opportunities from members or third parties.

 

All of the above will also be used to advertise job vacancies for OTs

 

Group Members

The group’s members should consist of only occupational therapists (or students) with an interest or experience in occupational health.

 

All appropriate OTs and students are welcome can be invited to join as a participant of the group by any existing member of the group by contacting the administrator or sharing this link:

https://chat.whatsapp.com/FlDHaXjW6re4TDQKQGDxwG

 

Any person who is found to have entered the group without the relevant qualifications or interests will be removed from the group by the administrator, at their discretion, without warning. The administrator may also remove any member who breaches the rules and conduct outlined below.

 

Group members are free to leave the group at any time.

 

Group Administrator

The administrator(s) will be the Director, or subcontractor of OTforOH Ltd and will be responsible for sending out emails, overseeing the group and monitoring conduct.

 

Clinical responsibility

OTforOH is a recruitment agency and takes no clinical responsibility for sharing, or allowing to be shared, any topic discussed or shared in any of the forums. Information shared by OTforOH Ltd is for interest only and all group members should undertake their own background reading and information gathering to make informed clinical decisions.

 

General Rules

These rules need to be followed by all participants.

 

1. Be courteous and considerate of others and their views

2. Any kind of discriminatory or disrespectful language will be treated very seriously and the member may be removed from the group

3. Always keep to the purpose of the group

4. Always anonymise names

5. No advertising of job opportunities, products, businesses or services allowed unless agreed with the administrator prior to posting. Any such message posted without permission may be deleted.

6. Unless agreed with the administrator in writing, members are not permitted to share vacancy information or use the group for recruitment purposes. If any member meets an OT, via the networking group who, as a result of the introduction via the networking group, becomes employed on an ad-hoc or employee basis, that employer would be liable for the Introduction Fee or Margin Fee as per our Terms of Business (available on request). 

7. Post your message in one single message, don’t post every word or sentence in a new message

8. Avoid 1:1 conversation in the group, switch to private messages

9. Try to avoid posting in the group between 22:00 and 08:00

 

Confidentiality / Data Protection

OTforOH Ltd values your privacy. We do not send any of your details to any third party without explicit consent. If you do not wish to receive emails from OTforOH Ltd then you can unsubscribe at anytime.

 

We are GDPR compliant, you view our privacy policy here.

 

WhatsApp is end to end encrypted. This means that only participants of the group can read or see what has been sent. Each message has a unique ‘lock and key’, this means that even the WhatsApp service is unable to see any of the content within the group.

 

As another element of confidentiality, there is a group rule which states that all names are anonymised, and this also includes not revealing identifying features of a person, for instance, revealing a person’s address on the group or sharing photos.

 

Each participant has a responsibility to ensure that the device they use to access the group is secured i.e. password / pin protection and the group is not left open for others to see. If a participant allows other ‘non participants’ to view the content of a group, then this will be considered a breach of confidentiality and the matter will be investigated further.

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Complaints / Grievance

It’s recognised that one administrator is unlikely to be able to actively monitor the group and fully minimise the risk of inappropriate or offensive comments being made.

 

There are clear rules and a policy in place; however, there could be an occasion where a participant is offended by comments made by other participants and wishes to complain.

 

The complainant must not respond or engage in any discussion which they are offended by.

 

They should approach the administrator of the group to ensure they are aware of the situation and the administrator will then investigate further and take any action deemed reasonable and proportionate, some examples include:

 

• Reiterating the group rules to all participants

• Informally discussing with relevant participants to ensure there isn’t a repeat of any inappropriate discussion

• Removing relevant participants from the group (depending on the context of the situation)

• Managing relevant participants of the group through the disciplinary process (depending on the context of the situation)