Posted By Ian Stone
We train chefs who most of which work in evenings or weekends. They buy their own knife sets that are kept in knife rolls. They have the option of locking them in lockers when not needed but most take them home as theu use them for their work.

We have had a "concerned parent" contact us to complain about this as they are worried about the knives could be used against their son/daughter or used for crime. The parent has contacted the police who stated that this was fine as long as the knives were not stored incorrectly or flashed about, unhappy with this the parent contacted us and local MP. We have reviewd the situation but due to the fact most chefs use their own knives for their own work and they dont want to use a College set (Ive been told that they get a "feel" for their own knives and dont like to use normal sets, we have also spoken to the HSE and other Colleges.

We have now received another letter from the parent stating that she is writing to the College governors and Director for Education as well as the chief inspector of the police as we are not doing something about the concerns.

Any advice or help would be great

Ian

Posted By Bill Elliott
I have a lot of sympathy with your trainee chefs - they are quite right, you do have a feel for your own knives as many other professions will tell you about their "tools". The knife rolls normally used for storage are not particularly intended for transporting knife sets to and from place of work/college etc - there are a number of lockable cases readily available from most knife suppliers that have the advantage of not standing out from your average briefcase. There is a issue for individuals to take responsibilty for their own equipment, and a number of chefs knives are potentially lethal in the wrong hands. How about an information session for your trainees giving them an insight into the illegal use of these "weapons" - your local police force may like to be involved -get a catering equipment supplier to sponsor it selling "secure" knife sets at a discount.

Posted By David A Jones
Assuming both yourselves and the police are following the same line i.e there is no need to do more - then simply state this to the concerned parent and tell them the issue is now closed nd you are not going to enter into further discussion on the matter as the police have confirmed no more needs to be done.

Obviously they may still not consider the matter closed but that is their problem not yours. If they involve the local MP and the MP contacts you, tell the MP that the police have been consulted and they do not believe any more needs to be done.

Posted By Kieran J Duignan
Ian

There seems to be a clash of values here if not the challenge of an obsessive compulsive parent. (I note your account doesn't quote the student's own view)

Perhaps the most fruitful way of releasing this fly from the bottle is to
a. review your statement of responsibilities of students, as issued on acceptance on the course
b. consider the adoption of a regular written (brief) questionnaire to be completed by each student about his/her security management of all PPE and professional tools and equipment
c. ensure students and staff are fully aware of access to counselling in the event of stress (this is not a joke: it may well be that the parent has a history of harassing others who work in the public sector, aware of their vulnerability in a PC society)
d. communicate this to all interested parties
e. ask for senior management backing