New lone worker training course can benefit carers

Many workers in the care sector are required to spend long periods working alone or on a one-to-one basis with service users. This can result in many carers and support workers feeling vulnerable and raises the question of personal safety.

First Response Training are launching a new Lone Worker and Personal Safety training course to address this serious issue and demystify the legislation surrounding lone working. The course will be 6 hours in duration and the content will include risk assessments, good practice, diffusion techniques and practical guidelines for emergencies.

The safety of frontline care workers has long been a contentious issue and, in 2009, the NHS Security Management Service (SMS) launched an initiative to provide nurses and other health care lone workers with personal safety alarms. They were also provided with instruction training in how to use the devices. Thousands benefited from the new system, which had been in the pipeline for a number of years.

However, the issue of lone working came under scrutiny again earlier this year when a mental health charity was fined £30,000 after a young female employee was stabbed to death by a service user.

Ashleigh Ewing, aged just 22, was employed as a support worker for Mental Health Matters and often made lone visits to the home of service user Ronald Dixon. It was during a routine visit that Dixon attacked and killed her.

A subsequent investigation by the HSE found that the charity had continued to allow Ashleigh to make unaccompanied visits to Mr Dixon despite a risk assessment which identified a number of key risk factors and in spite of a series of warning signs in the weeks prior to the attack. In this case, the charity had not taken sufficient steps to protect and monitor the safety of their lone worker and this led to their eventual prosecution by the HSE.

When it comes to the safety of lone workers, there are no simple answers or rigid restrictions in place. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) advises that the main pieces of legislation that apply are the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. They stress that any restrictions placed on lone working activities should depend on the outcome of a thorough risk assessment.

The HSE also suggests that one of the most important measures that employers can take to ensure the safety of their lone worker is to provide suitable training. This is why First Response are so pleased to introduce their new course.

Head of Curriculum and Quality, Charlotte Potter, explains: “There is definitely a requirement for this type of training within the care sector. Many frontline health and social care workers can often be placed in situations where they feel at risk or have to deal with aggressive behaviour or other emergency situations. It is therefore really important that they know the best ways to cope with these situations. We believe that our new Lone Worker and Personal Safety training course will give carers more confidence and help them feel safe.”

For further information on the new Lone Worker and Personal Safety Training course, please contact us today.