What are the roles and responsibilities of a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)

Overview of the DSL Role

The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is the organisation’s central safeguarding specialist, responsible for ensuring that children, young people, and vulnerable adults are protected from harm. They provide leadership, oversight, and expert guidance so that safeguarding and wellbeing remain a consistent priority across all services. A DSL must be confident, knowledgeable, and able to make informed decisions under pressure.

The DSL is a safeguarding leader, culture-builder, and strategic decision-maker. Their expertise, ongoing training, and collaborative work with staff and curriculum teams ensure that safeguarding and wellbeing are embedded across the organisation, creating a safe and supportive environment for all learners.

Core Responsibilities of a DSL

Managing Safeguarding and Wellbeing Concerns

The DSL oversees all safeguarding and wellbeing concerns raised within the organisation. This includes:

Receiving and assessing disclosures or concerns
Deciding whether the threshold for referral is met
Making timely referrals to children’s social care, the police, or Prevent
Keeping accurate, secure, and detailed records of concerns, actions, and outcomes
Monitoring cases to ensure concerns are followed through

A DSL must recognise indicators of abuse, neglect, exploitation, mental health concerns, and radicalisation, and act swiftly to protect individuals at risk.

Supporting, Advising, and Training Staff

The DSL ensures that all staff understand their safeguarding duties and feel confident in reporting concerns. This includes:

Providing advice on whether a concern requires further action
Supporting staff involved in disclosures
Ensuring staff understand internal reporting procedures
Promoting a culture where safeguarding and wellbeing are everyone’s responsibility

A key part of this role is ensuring staff are well trained. The DSL must:

Deliver or coordinate high-quality safeguarding training
Ensure all staff receive regular updates in line with statutory guidance
Identify training gaps and provide targeted support
Maintain accurate records of training completion and refresher cycles

Crucially, the DSL themselves must also be well trained and up to date, completing advanced safeguarding training at least every two years and staying informed of changes to legislation, local procedures, and emerging risks.

Creating a Culture of Safeguarding

The DSL plays a central role in embedding safeguarding into the organisation’s values, behaviours, and daily practice. This includes:

Promoting openness, professional curiosity, and early intervention
Ensuring learners know how to raise concerns safely
Encouraging staff to challenge poor practice or unsafe behaviour
Working with leaders to ensure safeguarding is visible in policies, communications, and organisational priorities

A strong safeguarding culture ensures that everyone understands their role in keeping learners safe.

Working with Curriculum Teams

The DSL works closely with curriculum and teaching teams to ensure learners receive high-quality safeguarding education. This includes:

Ensuring safeguarding themes are embedded across the curriculum
Supporting staff to deliver content on online safety, grooming, exploitation, and radicalisation
Providing up-to-date resources and guidance
Monitoring the impact of safeguarding education on learner awareness and confidence

This proactive approach helps learners understand risks and develop the skills to keep themselves safe.

Working with External Agencies

The DSL liaises with social care, police, health professionals, and Prevent officers. Responsibilities include:

Attending multi-agency meetings and case conferences
Sharing information lawfully and appropriately
Advocating for the learner’s safety and wellbeing

Ensuring Compliance with Legislation and Guidance

The DSL ensures safeguarding practice aligns with:

They ensure policies, procedures, and training reflect current legislation and best practice.

Meeting with Ofsted Inspectors

During inspection, the DSL will:

Meet directly with inspectors and provide evidence of how safeguarding is “met” in line with the Ofsted Safeguarding Toolkit, including compliance, culture, and impact on learners
Demonstrate how safeguarding and wellbeing concerns are managed
Provide evidence of accurate record-keeping, staff training, and safer recruitment
Explain how risks are identified, monitored, and mitigated

If you want to ensure you understand your role and responsibilities join us for our learner reviewed safeguarding training.

We offer specific safeguarding training for education for those new to the DSL role and experienced DSLs who need to update their CPD.

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