1. Safety & Health Expo 2014 Top tips to keep your lone
workers safe Rachel Griffin Director, Suzy Lamplugh Trust
2. Top tips to keep your lone workers safe travelling and
visiting clients recognising aggression de-escalating and de-fusing
developing policies and procedures and training your staff to
follow them 3. Suzy Lamplugh Trust It may be common sense but it is
not always common practice Diana Lamplugh 4. Travelling and
visiting clients 5. P E T eople nvironment ask Adopt a PET! 6.
Planning your journey/en route 7. What can you see and hear? Would
any of it make a difference? On the doorstep 8. what might you be
aware of? Once the doors open 9. Choice Time Before setting off
Travelling On the doorstep Once inside 10. Recognising aggression
11. Baseline Behaviour Trigger Phase Escalation Phase Critical
Phase Recovery Phase Post-Trauma Depression Phase Violent behaviour
cycle 12. What are the warning signs of violence and aggression?
13. What are the warning signs of violence and aggression? Tapping
of fingers Crossed arms Pacing Raised voice Facial expressions Any
sudden changes in behaviour Looking down on the other person
Remember: think about your own behaviour as well as the other
persons 14. What are you saying? 15. Assess and respond What is the
persons aggression about? Is it directed at me, the organisation or
themselves? Is the anger a form of distress? Am I in danger? 16.
De-escalating and de-fusing 17. Many techniques not all of them
work all of the time! Make sure you know your potential escape
routes Avoid hazards such as stairs or equipment that could be used
as a weapon Talk your way out of problems: dont meet aggression
with aggression Avoid aggressive body language: wagging finger,
crossed arms, hands on hips, raised arms Stand at a 45 angle rather
than squaring up to someone confrontationally Remember that
aggression often arises from a lack of information: keep channels
of communication open 18. Many techniques not all of them work all
of the time! Dont get drawn into someone elses anger; try to
encourage compromise Try to stay calm, speak gently and clearly
Think about not just what you say but how you say it: speak calmly
and avoid sarcasm/being patronising Be aware of personal space and
keep a safe distance; never put a hand on someone who is angry
Humour is a high-risk strategy for dealing with aggression and is
best avoided Trust your instincts: if a situation feels
uncomfortable, make an excuse and leave 19. Developing policies and
procedures 20. What is a lone worker? 21. 3. We have a clear
procedure to follow in case someone does not return at the expected
time. 4. We have a system for me to raise the alarm covertly in
case of emergency while working alone. 9. If I do not follow my
teams agreed tracing system, there will be consequences. 1. My
colleagues will know where to start looking should I not return to
base on time. 5. I am confident that an appropriate person will
pick up the phone if I call the office in an emergency. 7. There is
information available so that my manager could contact my partner,
family or next of kin (to ensure my safety) should I fail to return
from an appointment. 2. If I decide to change my plans during the
day someone would be aware of this. 8. My partner, family or next
of kin would have contact details of a colleague should I fail to
return from work, even if this should happen after office hours. 6.
When (if) I am lone working out of office hours, we have a system
to monitor my safety. Thinking about personal safety 22. , 23. If a
colleague rings and asks you to check this Blue File this means
that they may be in a threatening situation. Ask them if they are
where they are expected to be as detailed in the day book. Please
alert a member of the management team. The manager (or in the
unlikely event that a manager is not present, a staff member)
should call the initial caller back within five minutes to check on
their welfare. If a colleague rings and asks you to check this Red
File this means that they need immediate help. Ask them if they are
where they expected to be as detailed in the day book. If the
answer is yes immediately notify the most senior manager present
who should take immediate action i.e. call the police. Raising the
alarm 24. If a colleague rings and asks you to check this Blue File
this means that they may be in a threatening situation. Ask them if
they are where they expected to be as detailed in the day book.
Please alert a member of the management team. The manager (or in
the unlikely event that a manager is not present, a staff member)
should call the initial caller back within five minutes to check on
their welfare. 25. If a colleague rings and asks you to check this
Red File it means that they need immediate help. Ask them if they
are where they expected to be as detailed in the day book. If the
answer is yes immediately notify the most senior manager present
who should take immediate action i.e. call the police. 26.
Developing policies and procedures Tailor your policies and
procedures to the activities of your workforce Engage the staff in
identifying the solution: they know what will and wont work Adopt
the solution(s) high or low tech that will work for your
organisation (one size will not fit all) Communicate what is
required of staff and why staff need to know that this is about
their safety, not Big Brother If its a policy it must be policed:
check that your lone workers are following procedure and take
action if they arent 27. Tailoring training to different roles,
risks and needs What has triggered the demand for training? An
incident? Legislation/health and safety? Who needs/wants training?
Frontline staff? Managers? Both? What will the workers/volunteers
be doing? Regularly working alone in high risk situations? Going
into other peoples homes? Holding the fort while other staff are
away from base? 28. Personal safety toolkit 29. Personal safety
toolkit 30. I C E In Case of Emergency 31. P.L.A.N for your
Personal Safety Prepare Look confident Act to avoid risk and danger
Never assume it wont happen to you 32. Thank you Rachel Griffin
Director, Suzy Lamplugh Trust
