Duties and authorisation of the counsellor

Since 2011 ZV Torpedo has appointed a counsellor for the club. Sharon Kruisdijk-HenĂ©, reachable at 06-10052164. The tasks and authorisations of the counsellor are as follows:

  • The internal counsellor has as its task to:
    • take care of the first liaison and advice to a member of the club, his/her parents or an employee of the club regarding the abuse of power;

    • inform the parents of the member, in case of a member of the club approaching the internal counsellor by him/herself regarding the abuse of power, unless important reasons justify not doing so. Informing parents will take place preferably with consent of the member, the older the member (>12 jaar) the more important this consent is. From the age of 16 a member has the right to refuse to consent to informing the parents;

    • refer, in principle as soon as possible, the member to an external counsellor/ organisation, naturally only with consent of the member (and parents) and facilitate this;

    • facilitate in filing a compliant with the board of the club, when required;

    • observe, at the request of the external counsellor, whether the filing of a complaint will have negative repercussions for the member, parent or other persons involved;

    • contribute to the improvement of the club culture by providing requested and unrequested advice to the club;

    • be up to date with developments in the area of prevention and fight against abuse of power.

  • The internal counsellor is compelled to confidentiality of all that is trusted to him/her in performing this task. This right does not apply in the case of the competent authority when suspicions of sexual intimidation exist (in which case there is a report and notification obligation) nor to the member and his/her parents, the external counsellor, the board of complaints, judicial authorities and medical doctors. The duty of confidentiality does not expire when ending tasks as an internal counsellor.
  • The internal counsellor is for the execution of his/her function solely functionally accountable to the competent authorities.
  • The internal counsellor cannot by executing these tasks be disciplinary charged, laid off or in any  other way be disadvantaged.
  • The internal counsellor can be relieved of his/her tasks in case of gross negligence or mistakes in his/her functioning as the internal counsellor.
  • The internal counsellor wishes to end his/her tasks, will inform the competent authorities in writing en will take care of transfer of information to his/her successor.
  • The board will take care of easy accessibility and will facilitate the internal counsellor to be able to function according to the tasks assigned.
  • Liability/damage: When the internal counsellor is active in performing his/her tasks, he/she is insured according to the applicable provisions against lawful liability under the collective liability insurance by the Royal Dutch Swimming Association (KNZB) for clubmembers of the KNZB. Torpedo is a member of KNZB. If a person suffers damage to body or otherwise in the execution of his/her function this damage will fully be refunded taking into account concepts of negligence / carelessness.