CIfA acknowledges the important momentum developed through a cross-sector meeting convened by its Equality and Diversity Group on 6 July 2018. We would like to thank the Group and the participants at the meeting for their contributions to this important matter.
CIfA’s Board of Directors is keen to engage with this issue and has considered the recommendations arising from the meeting, where it was agreed that a culture change around equality and diversity practice in archaeology needs to be effected immediately. After careful consideration, the Board has decided that CIfA’s response needs to be part of a more comprehensive strategy that will have the greatest impact for the profession and strongly recognises the important roles of organisations representing employers, employees and those in education. The Board has therefore agreed that the most appropriate starting point is for it to approach the Industry Group (an existing collaboration between FAME, Prospect and CIfA) and ask that Group to jointly develop a pan-sectoral strategy on Equality and Diversity in archaeology. This would be owned by all three organisations and would commit each to jointly working on specific actions.
CIfA will also be forming an internal working party of its own Advisory Council to consider where CIfA should lead on Equality and Diversity matters and where it should play a supporting role. Advisory Council will be asked to nominate members to join this new working party and further details will be available following the next Advisory Council meeting in September.
In line with these developments, the Board has approved immediate actions to revise CIfA’s Policy Statements which cover
- Equal opportunities in archaeology
- Health and safety
- The use of volunteers and students on archaeological projects
- Environmental protection
- Self-employment and the use of self-employed sub-contractors
- The use of training posts on archaeological project
All members are encouraged to refer to these updated versions and advised to respect the guidance contained in policy statements. Members are encouraged to bring them to the attention of organisations in archaeology with whom they have contact, to ensure wide promulgation of good professional practice.
The Board would like to thank the Equality and Diversity Group for its input to these revisions and hope that members find them useful.
In addition, CIfA has very recently become a member of Public Concern at Work (soon to be renamed to Protect) which is a whistleblowing charity and aims to protect society by encouraging workplace whistleblowing. This subscription allows our members access to independent and confidential advice managed by qualified lawyers, as well as providing advice and access to training for organisations to ensure they have the appropriate procedures in place to allow staff to raise concerns. Further details about this will be released as soon as they are available.
