Posted on Nov 03, 2023
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Navigating Whistleblowing
Every year, thousands of people blow the whistle, but what exactly is whistleblowing and how does it affect me?
What is whistleblowing?
Whistleblowing, or ‘blowing the whistle’, is the act of reporting a misconduct within an organisation. These misconducts are often criminal offences or health and safety risks, but they must affect more than just the whistleblower, including misconducts that put the public at risk.
Whistleblowing does not cover personal grievances, such as bullying or harassment, and these concerns should be reported through the organisation’s grievance procedure instead.
Why is whistleblowing important?
Whistleblowing prevents malpractice and corruption within organisations.
Imagine:
You work in a hospital. You witness a nurse mistreating patients by refusing to give them their medication. If you decide to blow the whistle, you are protecting the safety of current and future patients within the hospital. It creates a safer environment.
Whistleblowing can happen in any kind of organisation, and any employee at any level can make a disclosure.
How do I blow the whistle?
Organisations should have a whistleblowing policy in place, so ensure you’re familiar with how your organisation chooses to handle these disclosures. Keep calm and think about the risks and outcomes before reporting in a timely manner following this policy.
You can either report through your employer, or through a relevant external body.
How are whistleblowers protected?
The Public Interest Disclosure act 1998 gives whistleblowers job & discrimination protection when raising a qualifying concern.
For more information on legal whistleblowing protection, see Protect for free, confidential whistleblowing advice.
To gain a full understanding of whistleblowing, see the Whistleblowing course in the flick library.
Subscribing with flick offers access not only to this course, but unlimited access to all 115+ courses in the flick library – as well as all our downloadable guides and resources. Why not sign up today?