Protecting the identity of those who speak up is at the heart of what we do. Our people, systems and processes work together to guarantee confidentiality.
As an independent, not-for-profit organisation we have maintained the confidentiality of all those we have listened to since we were established in 1996.
Our reporting service is confidential, not anonymous. Being confidential means we ask for your details so that we can stay in touch throughout the reporting process, but we protect your identity. We contact you to fully understand your concern, get back to you with the company’s response, and give you the opportunity for feedback.
What is the difference between confidential and anonymous reporting?
How we protect your confidentiality
If you are interested in how we protect your identity and keep your concern confidential, read on.Raising your concern
When you get in touch with us, you'll speak to one of our trained analysts about your concern at a time that suits you. Our systems and processes mean that your personal details are accessed only by those who need to use them to handle your concern, and are then destroyed.
Staying confidential goes beyond just not using your name. The analyst will ask you questions about your concern in detail to ensure that absolutely nothing in the detail of the concern could identify you or a colleague. Where a concern is tied to an individual, the analyst will provide you with alternative options, such as a whistleblowing service or other channels within your organisation.
Passing your concern to the company
The analyst will write up a report of your concern to send to the appropriate company. We’ll leave out any details that could identify you – for example, job titles – and will only mention a location if enough staff work there so that you would not be identified.
Help to keep your concern confidential
We strongly advise that you don’t tell anyone you have spoken to CIRAS confidential safety hotline, and there are other steps you can take to keep your identity protected too.
Remember: if you make it known that it's you who raised a concern through CIRAS, then there’s no benefit of using CIRAS, because you won't be confidential. And if others know you have raised a concern with CIRAS, it could prevent them from sharing their concerns confidentially too. The more ways that people have to share their safety concerns, and that they are willing to use, the better it is for everyone.
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Tags
- Confidential reporting