"PERSONAL SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE: PROTECTING LONE AND FRONTLINE WORKERS" - Suzy Lamplugh Trust STAND K-53 - Health & Safety Event
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“PERSONAL SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE: PROTECTING LONE
AND FRONTLINE WORKERS”
Arad Parsi
Head of Business Development
Suzy Lamplugh Trust
STAND K-53
SUZY LAMPLUGH TRUST • UK’s pioneering personal safety charity, est. 1986 • World-leading center of excellence and the leading stalking authority in the UK • Suzy was a 25-year-old estate agent and lone-worker • Met “Mr Kipper” at 12.40pm 28th July 1986, reported missing to Police 6:45pm • Missing, assumed murdered, declared dead in 1993 • Parents set up the Trust to help people “Live Life Safe” • Field experts in “Lone-Working” & “Personal Safety” training for 33 years • Working to reduce the risk of violence and aggression by educating, campaigning and supporting people to take steps to avoid, mitigate or manage risks at work, as well as across all aspects of their lives
OUR WORK INCLUDES
Education:
✓ Personal Safety training
✓ Publishing guidance
✓ Consultancy
Supporting:
✓ Free safety tips
✓ National Stalking Helpline Campaigning:
✓ Community projects ✓ Raising awareness
✓ Influencing policy makers
✓ Working with partners
PERSONAL SAFETY TRAINING RATIONALE • The entire workforce can benefit from personal safety training • This includes lone-workers, frontline and back office staff • Employees may be exposed to harassment, aggression & violence • Lone-workers face certain other risks, in addition to the above • 24% of all violent incidents took place on work premises (CSEW 2017) • 642,000 incidents of violence at work, including 269,000 assaults • Equates to 1.3% of working adult population in England & Wales • Reducing significant cost to business
PERSONAL SAFETY TRAINING COURSES
• Practical and Customised Training Packages
• Help maximise employees’ personal safety at work
• Place individuals in control when it comes to keeping themselves safe
• Promoting a happier workplace, reducing cost to individuals and businesses
• Personal Safety Training Workshops
• Raise awareness of workplace personal safety risks staff may face
• Upskill them in effective assess, mitigation and management of risks
• Setting boundaries around aggression and understanding the psychology behind aggression
• Conflict management skills/tools (Defusing, De-Escalating, Reflective Questioning)
• Behavioral change, confidence in managing own personal safety and conflict situations
• Personal Safety Training for Lone-Workers
• Risk identification – informed through needs-assessment and interactive group work
• Practical avoidance and reduction strategies
• Personal safety action plan at work, including buddying and tracing systems
• The law and employer/employee responsibilities
• Lone-working scenarios and who is at risk?
• Consequences of personal safety risks, aggression & violence on staff and organization
• Importance of sustainability of dynamic risk assessments, buddying and tracing systems
• Choosing effective lone-worker devices, global positioning systems and two-way radios
• Train-the-Trainer Courses
• Reflects the knowledge and skills units within the Managing Workplace Violence National Occupational
Standards (NOS), and is delivered by top conflict management specialists and teacher training experts
DYNAMIC RISK ASSESSMENT
1. Assess
2. Reduce
3. Manage
A.R.M Yourself
CAUSES OF AGGRESSION
Frustration
Calm
ANGER
Fear
Aggressive
Humiliation
Source: The causes of Aggression: A Practical Approach – Vida Pearson 1991
VIOLENT BEHAVIOUR CYCLE
REFLECTIVE QUESTIONING
Finding out the root cause through calm dialog:
Create sense of calm
Rephrase
“What is it that’s Upset person feels
&
upsetting you?” listened to
Reaffirm
Person defusing is
able to assess
whether they can
helpCONFLICT MANAGEMENT
• Defusion: Removing the trigger, or calming a situation down through talking
• De-escalation: Staying and resolving the situation, going against our natural fight-or-flight reflexes
• De-escalate to reduce the level of agitation to where discussion and a good outcome is possible
• But if a situation starts to become threatening, defusing and de-escalating is only meant to provide
you with an opportunity to protect yourself by getting away
AGGRESSIVE PASSIVE ASSERTIVE
VOICE Loud Quiet Steady and firm
Cold, hard Too soft Middle range
Often shouting Whining Warm and sincere
Rises at the end
SPEECH PATTERN Few pauses Hesitant Smooth with few
Critical words Frequent pauses hesitations
emphasised Speaking nonstop Pauses for emphasis
Fast Frequent throat Varied tone
clearingBUDDYING & TRACING SYSTEMS
Colleagues will If I decide to I know what to do I know who to contact if I
know where to change my plans if a colleague does am worried about my
start looking for during an not turn up colleague/s
me if I don’t engagement somewhere or
return someone would return to work
be aware of this.
I let my Someone has access to If I don’t turn up at the expected time, I
colleagues/my office my diary and can know my colleagues will:
know where I contact my next a) Call others to try and track me down
am/what my plans appointment b) Raise the alarm
are c) Follow the agreed procedure
My colleagues know how to contact my family or next of kin should I fail to return.POLICY WRITING CONSULTANCY • Lone-worker or personal safety policy writing – review, amend or create • In depth discussion with policy holders around policy requirements • Sessions with a variety of teams to draw out issues faced and identify what works/what doesn’t in terms of procedures • Focus groups: Staff from a variety of roles gather to discuss experiences, risks and practicalities of existing procedures • It is recommended this is also repeated with management
PERSONAL SAFETY CAMPAIGNS • In September 2018, the Trust’s Policy and Development Team conducted research in relation to personal safety and the retail sector - “STAY SAFE AT WORK” research project • Increasing trend in retail sector where employees progressively face specific personal safety risks including verbal and physical abuse, as well as threats from customers • Research by “The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW)” in 2017 showed that asking for proof of age was a flashpoint for violence and abuse from customers • USDAW’s research showed 75% of respondents experienced problems, 10% having daily problems • Suzy Lamplugh Trust’s own survey of over 1,000 employees and employers in the retail sector in September 2018 clearly outlined the extent of the issue
PERSONAL SAFETY CAMPAIGNS
• Within England, respondents were from West Midlands, Greater
Manchester, Tyne and Wear, South and West Yorkshire and
Greater London
• 90% of respondents were frontline workers in client facing roles
• 66% of respondents stated that they had experienced violence or
aggression in the workplace
Scotland
• Of those, 83% reported experiencing verbal abuse, 39% verbal
Wales
harassment, 37% verbal threat, 29% bullying, 16% physical abuse
Norther Ireland
and again 16% emotional abuse
England
• 29% of respondents stated gender as a cause. Of those, 92%
were women
• Other factors stated included race (9.1%), nationality (8.1%),
sexual orientation (6.7%) and religious belief (3.7%)
• Suzy Lamplugh Trust launched their awareness-raising campaign
titled “Stay Safe At Work” on 8th of November 2018STALKING IS A PERSONAL SAFETY ISSUE
• “Stalking is a pattern of fixated and obsessive behaviour, which is intrusive and causes fear of
violence or creates alarm and distress in the victim.”
• Victims can experience domestic abuse, sexual assault, cyberstalking/bullying and homicide
• Stalkers could be partners / ex-partners, the public, friends, clients or colleagues
• 1 in 5 women and 1 in 10 men in UK will be stalked in their lifetime. It is as pervasive as
domestic abuse (CSEW 2017)
• An estimated 1,144,602 adults in England and Wales experienced stalking in 2017
• Up to 21 people around a victim are affected and put at risk, including colleagues (c. 20%)
• In 77% of cases it takes up to 100 incidents before victims report the problem
• The National Stalking Helpline at Suzy Lamplugh Trust help victims of stalking take back controlwww.suzylamplugh.org www.stalkinghelpline.org
0207 091 0014 0808 802 0300
suzylamplughtrust stalkinghelpline
@live_life_safe @talkingStalkingYou can also read
