Safe Lone Working

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Note: This is a 1-day course.


What are the boundaries of lone working? Am I always a lone worker throughout the week and who is responsible for me? It's vitally important to be clear about a working definition of your role and to agree the parameters and boundaries of that role, before tackling lone worker safety. Do you potentially face abusive customers, violent patients/relatives, robbery, animal attacks, confined spaces, road rage, chemical or physical hazards etc.? The risks associated with different lone occupations are wide and varied, but do fall into general categories depending on the job. Awareness is raised about the different risks and how attendees currently think and feel about their level of risk. Many lone workers' key role is to meet people (a contradiction in terms!), often numerous times a day. Often they may face people with unpredictable or aggressive behaviour. It's important therefore that attendees gain a deeper understanding of the sources, causes, symptoms and issues surrounding conflict and aggression in their environment. Establishing safe working practices for lone working is no different from that of organising the safety of other employees. The requirements of the job need to be documented and clear periodic risk assessments need to be completed. Attendees on the course learn a clear and effective risk assessment methodology, for themselves and their employer to use. What's the culture of your organisation in relation to personal risk? Does it 'encourage' or 'discourage' risk taking? Sometimes we also unintentionally compromise our own safety for a number of reasons, arising from such beliefs as 'I have done this before' or 'it won't happen to me'. Successfully tackling our own 'blocks' and learning the risks involved helps prevent compromising our safety options as we go about our work. 'The behaviour goes with the territory' is heard from nurses, doctors, teachers, health visitors, taxi drivers, security staff etc. What are the boundaries of acceptable behaviour, and who defines those boundaries, especially when lone working? When working on your own, you might have the misfortune to the faced with aggressive behaviour for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. (e.g. caught up in a robbery). However, it is more likely that a chain of escalating events can be identified that lead to an aggressive confrontation. Attendees on this course learn how to recognise when people are aroused and how to spot and handle potential triggers. The key message underpinning the course is to identify and minimise risks to personal safety. However there is still the possibility that you find yourself on your own with customers or others aggressively demanding something that you cannot provide. Attendees learn how to use appropriate language and their non-verbal attributes to lessen or diffuse such situations. Any incident or behaviour is rarely unique. Therefore it is important to have a process in place that records such near misses or incidents. Attendees look at why, how and when to report, and what can get in the way of reporting incidents. It is essential that a 'back-up' system is in place when you are working on your own. This is explored along with practical policies and procedures underpinning lone worker safety. If involved in an incident, it is vital to get help and ongoing support. Attendees review their options and focus on reporting and debriefing, counseling and support, management's responsibilities, legal matters, insurance and criminal injuries compensation. Before you go, let's decide to do something with the information and skills you have developed. And stay safe!

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