N68. Personal Safety

Policy Statement

This organisation believes that its staff should be safe at work and should not be exposed to undue or unreasonable risk. In particular, {{org_field_name}} is committed to implementing measures that:

increase the personal safety and security of staff wherever possible, along with that of their personal property
ensure an effective response to personal safety and security incidents.

{{org_field_name}} also seeks to encourage service users, staff and others to have care and concern for the safe-keeping of equipment and property and the personal safety of all.

{{org_field_name}} recognises its legal responsibility under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its employees and its responsibility under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR) to identify significant risks within {{org_field_name}} and implement suitable measures to reduce those risks so far as is reasonably practicable.

This policy applies to all organisation staff without exception.

Aim of the Policy

This policy is intended to set out the values, principles and policies underpinning this organisation’s approach to ensuring that staff working for {{org_field_name}} are as safe as is reasonably practical while at work or when travelling to and from work.

Responsibilities of {{org_field_name}}

{{org_field_name}} will:

seek to ensure that it can respond effectively to all personal safety and security incidents, including incidents involving violence or threats of violence to staff, through the preparation of plans, management of incidents and appropriate follow up and recovery actions, as deemed necessary
ensure that the personal safety of staff is always considered when planning individual care plans with service users, especially with regard to staff travelling to and from a home care site. Wherever possible, arrangements that involve care staff travelling to and from houses alone during the hours of darkness, in isolated areas, or in known high-crime areas, should be avoided
be responsible for crime prevention/loss reduction measures, including assessing threats to personal safety of staff and investigating and initiating follow-up actions in response to any reported incidents
provide home care staff with a personal alarm where necessary, raise awareness of personal safety and security issues by offering training and advice to staff and service users on personal safety and security.

Responsibilities of Staff

This organisation believes that personal security is also the responsibility of every member of staff. {{org_field_name}} expects every member of staff to accept that responsibility and to:

act and behave in a way so as to ensure their own safety and security at all times
act and behave in a way so as to ensure the safety and security of service users and property in the areas in which they are working
report all personal safety and security incidents, including violence or threats of violence to themselves, and suspicious activities or incidents
always leave information of their whereabouts with the office and with a friend/relative and to advise the office of any changes to those whereabouts
never leave equipment visible in their cars, especially things like mobile phones, laptop computers, etc; staff should only carry equipment that is strictly necessary for the visit they are making and should lock it away in the boot
always try to park in a well-lit, open location, or walk to a service user’s home, along well-lit and populated routes.

All home care staff are strongly encouraged to carry a personal mobile phone and to ensure that an up-to-date contact number for it is left with the main office in case they need to be contacted. Staff carrying mobile phones should ensure that the battery is fully charged before leaving for work. A spare mobile phone is kept in the office for emergency use.

{{org_field_name}}’s Offices

Security is also considered an issue in {{org_field_name}}’s offices, especially for staff working alone there. {{org_field_name}}’s security lead, [insert name], should conduct or arrange to conduct regular risk assessment checks around the offices specifically designed to pick up on security issues. Checks should be carried out on a [insert how often] basis and should include:

alarms
security lights
window and door locks.

Staff should always be aware of who is in the building at all times. Any designated staff working at the office beyond their standard “going home” time should check who is still in the building before they leave.

Staff should enter the office building by using a key or via the keypad controlled entrance from the car park. Codes for the keypad should be kept secret by staff and never disclosed to anyone else. Keypad numbers should only be made known to staff on a “need to know” basis and should be changed every [insert how often] months. Staff should never leave the outside door open.

Visitors are able to announce that they have arrived by using the entrance intercom system. Office staff should answer the intercom politely and check the identity of the caller before allowing them in. Staff who are working alone in the offices should be sure that they know the identity of a caller before allowing them in, otherwise they should refuse entry and ask the visitor to return when other staff are around.

This organisation pursues a zero-tolerance policy towards aggression and violence directed against staff. (See the separate policy on Aggression Towards Staff.)

Training

[Insert name] is responsible for organising and co-ordinating training.

All staff should be trained to recognise the early warning signs of potential aggression and in de-escalating potentially violent situations. Office staff, line managers and supervisors should also be trained to know what to do in response to a complaint of violence made by a member of home care staff.

Instructions for dealing with aggressive or potentially violent service users should be included in the induction training for all new staff. In-house training sessions should be conducted at least annually and all relevant staff should attend. These sessions should cover the drill of how staff should act in an emergency situation.

Reviewed on: {{last_update_date}}

N68. Personal Safety