Conflict Management/Personal Safety
Conflict Management/Personal Safety
Conflict Management and Personal Safety
How do you help me provide Duty of Care for my staff?
The Health and Safety Executive in the UK (HSE and HSENI) states that under United Kingdom Law, employers have a duty of care to protect the health, safety and welfare of all employees while at work. We ensure that you receive relevant personal safety or lone worker training to meet risks you may encounter in your role. The areas we look to address are as follows: Geographical Locations. Certain areas of towns or cities e.g. town centres or council estates, are known to have a higher risk of violence Late evening/early morning work. Working during these times carries an increased risk of violence because there are generally either fewer people around, a greater number of "aggressive persons", or people under the risk of alcohol or drugs Current Job role. In some jobs lone workers hold positions of power or authority over customers or clients which can cause resentment and cause people to be more aggressive. Clients or customer behaviour. For a number of reasons, clients or customers can be highly emotional, unpredictable or aggressive. Other people or situations encountered whilst doing the job. This includes members of the public, youths and animals. Travelling, visiting homes and carrying money or equipment are also identified as key risks.
What Should the Employer Know?
Employers should know that under the Occupational Safety & Health Act 1970, it is the Moral, Economic and Legal responsibility of the employer to provide each and every employee with safe and secure conditions within which to work. The law clearly states that it is the duty of the employer to ensure that all employees work under conditions that are free from the threat of abuse, threats and violence – whether from intimidation in the workplace by colleagues – or by clientele or members of the public. The legal responsibility of this in the U.K. is the Health and Safety Executive, and we work tirelessly to ensure that the training we provide meet the rigorous standards set by the Government.
How can you help me make my people safer at work?
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE/HSENI) publish a comprehensive guide on managing workplace violence. If you want to make your business or organisation or club safer, here are a few areas we recommend: We will advise not only on improving the safety of your staff at work, but also to and from your premises. We can reduce risks associated with going to see certain customers in unpleasant or unsafe locations. We look at the root cause of conflict, so that we prevent it from happening in the first place We can very quickly instil confidence into your workforce which will help them cope under the most severe pressure. We can conduct risk assessments which will include the placement of furniture and provision of electronic security devices and procedures. We ensure that you can show that you have appropriate measures to cover your duty of care for your staff at all times and in all locations.
What benefits does your Personal Safety training provide?
The HSE and HSENI estimates that the average cost to a business is between £20,000 and £25,000 if any staff member should become victim to a violent crime. Further benefits provided by the Personal safety programme include: Professional training more confident employees Improved morale Better working relationships Better productivity Improved staff retention will assist in improving a safer working environment. This course enables the opportunity to learn more about the causes and prevention of conflict, including: The factors which contribute to making a safer and preferable environment for staff and customers/service users to operate within Developing and sharing of good practice Developing service improvements through regularly debriefing and reviewing with staff (team meetings) Preparing for potential incidents (the "what if" scenario) Rehearsing potential incidents to ensure communications, roles/responsibilities and expectations are understandable Defusing and resolving work related conflicts Taking control of an emotional/sensitive situation and generating positive outcomes.
How realistic and useful is your personal safety training?
Our training is all based on real-life scenarios to ensure all attendees learn good effective skills to enable them to act both safely and legally in aggressive situations, resulting in both management & staff being legally and medically protected from prosecution and liable action.
What do I need to know about the Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007?
The Corporate Manslaughter Act which came into effect in April of 2008 demonstrates how serious the government is about ensuring directors seriously consider best practice for health and safety. We can help. The good news is that no new health and safety obligations are imposed on companies with regards to their duty of care. However, the sobering news is that the evidence required for finding an individual guilty of this is greatly reduced if a worker dies in the course of their employment and the death could have been prevented. On these occasions, directors are more likely to be considered culpable. If a company is already complying with its responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act: The HSE states that under UK law, employers have a 'duty of care' to protect the health, safety and welfare of all employees while at work, then they will be complying with the new act. However: It is no longer necessary to identify a company's 'directing mind' The breach of duty does not have to be the only or even major, cause of the death Directors and senior managers can be prosecuted as individuals If found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter they can be jailed for up to three years The following are just a couple of failures which would make a specific organisation vulnerable: The poor training of front-line workers, particularly those in safety-critical positions Procedures not followed by front-line workers and junior management.
What security devices and staff systems can you provide for lone workers?
We offer good clear and sound advice that can be both balanced between cost and safety to your staff; not all lone workers need advanced technology but require simple but effective procedures and equipment to protect them from aggressive or threatening behavior.