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Posted By Alison Phillips
We are training consultants who visit, as part of our business, private Care Homes, where there could be violent or threatening situations.
We are in the process of updating our personal safety policies and I have a question, that I would be grateful for any help with...
What is our position legally in respect of our employees whilst in these homes, carrying out business?
Can we request that we carry out risk assessments within the care home? or do we have no right to do this, as it is someone's home?
Many Thanks
Alison Phillips
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Posted By MT
My advice would be to speak to the manager of the home(s). All of the care homes I've been in have a policy covering violence directed towards staff by the service users. Some also have, within the individual care plans for the service users, individual risk assessments which detail the risk from the person i.e. are they violent, what situations cause this, what drugs cause this etc.
Remember that if your employees are contracted by the care homes, then they owe your employees a duty of care also, therefore it is important that they co-operate with you to ensure a safe environment for your staff to work in.
As I said, I would bring this up with the manager. They will have the necessary information on the service users and should be able to work with you to carry out a risk assessment for your staff and decide the way forward, whether it means only meeting with the service users when members of the care home staff are present or nearby or any other solution.
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Posted By jackw.
Hi, H&S officer for LA Social Work department. As part of my duties i visit care homes for elderly, children and people with learning difficulties. Slightly different from you as I am an employee of the same LA. As has been said the care home will have some duty of care re your staff. However, i would try and put the risk into perspective. In the 10 years I have been working in these units I have never been subject to/of violent behaviour (it's PC to call it challenging behaviour these days), or indeed ever felt threatened by residents including children's units, which historically have a much higher level of challenging behaviour. None of my colleagues have reported any incidents. Additionally I have never had a report of this re the array of staff from health trusts (doctors/nurses etc.), contractors, etc. who visit our units on a regular basis. Thus whilst one should always be aware of the possibility, statistically the reality doesn't bare out spending a lot of resources in time or money on it. Often, particularly in this field, the risks are likely to be more perceived to be much higher than they are in reality.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
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Posted By Alison Phillips
many thanks for your comments
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Posted By stevehaigh
The care home should have their own procedures in place regarding visitors etc For instance :
*report all accidents, incidents or near misses you are involved in to the officer in charge.
*be aware that some of our clients are very vulnerable with a range of physical and mental infirmities.
*do not enter rooms unaccompanied if the room is occupied by an individual you do not know.
*ensure all your personal possessions are secured at all times e.g. tools.knives
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Posted By Peter Leese
Jack, you won't mind if I adapt your sentence slightly to:
'Often the risks are likely to be perceived to be much higher than they are in reality.'
It struck a chord with me, not just for this case but in general, it is a sentence we should all have at the back of our minds in our day-to-day H&S work.
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Posted By jackw.
No problem with the adaption. Of course the use will attract the usual fee!!!!!!!!!! Hmm now what rate did I set out????
Cheers all it's friday and i am off until 10 April.
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Posted By Adrian Watson
Dear Alison,
There is a need to do a risk assessment, on the possibility of violence from people.
It is agreed that the risk of violence may be statistically low. However, the risk of violence is real. What happened to Suzy Lampoon was a rare event, but nevertheless it did happen and could happen again.
Staff need to be trained to be aware of their situation and to act accordingly. If there is a known risk then the work should be planned for safety. Can the person come to you? Keep in contact: phone in; phone out. Use two person working etc.
Regards Adrian Watson
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