Posted By Rachael Palmer
We are in the process of opening a new "Customer Contact Centre" (smallish satelite office accommodating up to 10 employees which will enable members of the public to call in to pay council tax bills, check planning applications, submit housing benefit applications, make requests for houseing (homeless people), just a few of the many things dealt with by all Council's on a day to day basis.

The majority of our Customers are law abiding citizens who, whilst they may get a little shirty, don't pose a threat to staff. There are however some members of society who for what ever reason do pose a threat. Incidents of abuse and threats of physical violence are fortunately few and far between. However we will shortly be fitting out a couple of Interview rooms in the new contact centre and the question of staff safety has arisen. There are two definite camps one which would prefer there to be no physical barrier between the interviewer and interviewee (other than table / desk & chairs) and the other which would prefer there to be a full security counter. Bearing in mind we will have access to another building that will have a secure interview room the question of whether it is reasonably practicable to provide an all singing all dancing set up. The interview rooms will be glazed so persons outside will be able to see what's going on but not hear, there will also be CCTV and panic alarms.

I would welcome comments from the forum.


Thanks

Rachael

Posted By Amanda
Rachael
We have recently removed the barriers from the interview rooms after many many years of them being in place. As you have identified there were two definiet camps. We had a focus group to discuss all the possible foreseeable risks etc. Following that we also had training sessions on conflict management to assist those who felt threatened by removing the screens. Now after several months screenless the fears of the keep the screens camp have not been realised, however we do have a robust system of reporting abuse and violence and a zero tolerance policy regarding violence and abuse.
Ian is right there is a school of thought that by erecting screens etc and treating people as a threat to be 'caged' does in fact cause this type of behaviour.
I must stress that you must go through a thorough risk assessment process and research past incidents etc before you proceed.
Good Luck!

Posted By Glyn Atkinson
Unfortunately, in this day and age, some people choose to live outside of the law, and can be those who attend claim centres for whatever reason.

The employer of any interviewer in these circumstances has a clear duty of care towards their employee to safeguard their health and wellbeing agianst any external service user.

Abuse does not have to be physical - take for example - if a female interviewer was pregnant, and there was some form of verbal trauma in the interview, this could have an effect on the pregnant woman in question from rising blood pressure, psychological problems of not wanting to face the public in any stressful situations etc.

Open interviews are OK in principle, if the customers can be trusted to behave in a civilised manner. A lot of the claimants could be desperate for reasons of poverty, abuse in their own environment etc, and will have different reactions to questioning on their personal lifestyle and behaviour.

This all needs to be accounted for in any determination of open / closed interviewing, and all areas will have different clientele.

Posted By Andy Farrall
Rachael,
It is vital that the staff actualy dealing with potential clients have specialist training in conflict management. This will enable them to recognise the early signs of escalation and either control the situation or get out before things get out of hand.

As a member of the Institute for Conflict Management I have a special interest in these things so if you need any further advice please don't hesitate to drop me an e-mail or give me a call (0117 957 5154).

Hope this helps.

Andy

Posted By David Bramall
Rachel

Have all the possibilities been condidered?
Honestly I do have doubts.
From your thread, I gather (rightly or wrongly) that the interview rooms are being built from scratch - you mention glass walls etc, that colleagues are able to see but not hear.

Now - here is my concern(s)
In my experience colleagues often dont bother about you unless you express a concern prior to the interview, and so if you are attacked, the only benefit is that someone will eventually find you. (No real benefit to yourself)
What we need to do is minimise the chance of injury (or worse).
My control measures for this scenario is roughly
a - arrange the room - your seat and any potential attackers seat should be well seperated - eg the desk sits tight to a wall with an emergency escape door on this wall. The assailant then has a long way to go to assault the member of staff. Reinforce this with cupboards, cabinets and the like to make the route even longer.
b - if a new build, this is so simple; the room can be designed with awkward shapes, escape doors, even steps, barriers etc.
c - ensure all appointmets are set times (if possible) then another member (or members ) of staff can be on hand.
d - obvious one, but if anyone has caused concern in the past - make good arrangements for backup.
e - appointment system
f - screens essential for non appointment meetings
g - training in conflict management - talk politely, dont confront, dont appear clever ...
There are various sites easily located offering advice onconflict / assault / ... issues.

Good luck

DrB