I work for a housing association and we are looking at bring our OOH maintenance in house, we have a lot of properties in high crime areas with residents of all different backgrounds ( some with mental health or violence issues). The main issue is, can we reduce our risks to its lowest acceptable level by normal lone working controls of should we double up to 2 men on a job? Im not looking for a list of control measures etc, but others in the sector and what do they do? Many thanks

If you are aware of particular issues, you have a duty to control. You have the same duty to inform your contractor. Doubling up doesn't necessarily mean safe, it might just mean more people placed in harm's way. Your into multi-agency territory here, liaison with social services and a dependable flag/address system. Think to of the 'flood' call from a tenant where the leak is upstairs in the "risk" property. Have you informed neighbours of potential risk? We had an instance here where a tenant was fatally stabbed when he asked the neighbour (placed in a scatter flat and with known mental health issues) to turn his TV down.