Dealing Aggression Policy

HABITER

Property Solutions

Dealing with Aggression and Violence

The abiter Property Solutions policy on ‘Dealing with Aggression and Violence’ contains details of how the company expects violence to be managed. This guidance is intended to be used as a checklist for individuals to use to ensure that appropriate steps are being taken to manage violence.

This guidance does not take into consideration methods of analysing or controlling violent behaviour. It’s related to generic methods that can be employed to manage violence within a work setting.

The definition of violence:

The term “violence at work” in summary, is taken to include any incident in which an employee is the subject of any of the following whilst carrying out their duties:

•  Verbal or physical abuse

•  Assault

•  Intimidation

• Threats

Responsibilities:

Responsibility is assigned to both “Management” and “Employees”.

The “Management” responsibilities include:

• Identifying staff that are “at risk”.

•  Introducing necessary precautions to safeguard staff

•  Releasing staff to attend training

•  Where appropriate, introduce methods of work that use visiting registers.

• Evaluate the effectiveness of protective measures after an incident and introduce appropriate steps to prevent recurrence.

The “Employee” responsibilities include:

• Withdraw from a situation where they feel threatened (after making it clear to others in the situation that they intend to do so).

• Report the details of such a situation to their line manager.

• Familiarise themselves with the measures which have been implemented within their workplace to protect them from violence.

• Strictly comply with the use of procedures or equipment which has been provided as protection.

Reporting Incidents:

Any violent or potentially violent incident must be reported by an employee to his/her line manager. Upon receipt of this information, the details should be recorded on a abiter Property Solutions Incident Report form. Details of the action that has been taken to prevent recurrence should also be recorded on the form.

Copies of the completed ‘Incident Report Form’ should also be sent to the following abiter Property Solutions Director:

Zed Hameed.

If the incident has serious consequences then a copy of the form should also be sent to the Local Police Authority.

In the event of physically assault, it is expected that a report will be made to the Police by the Line Manger However, the views of the victim must be taken into consideration before the Line Manager makes a decision regarding this.

Identifying Staff that are ‘at risk’:

Staff who are at risk include:

•  Those who visit clients or otherwise work in the community

•  Those who meet clients in offices.

•  Those who came into contact with members of the public

Some staff may be particularly at risk, these include:

•  Those who work alone.

•  Those who may be the subject of specific violence/abuse (e.g. of a sexual or racist nature).

•  Those who have been “targeted” by a client in the past.

Staff who are particularly at risk may need to be the subject of more rigorous protective measures.

Introducing necessary precaution to safeguard staff:

The precautions which are required to safeguard staff will vary from situation to situation. However, the following basic principals should be considered:

Can the risk of harm through violence be avoided in any way?

It may not always be possible to avoid the risk, especially if this involves a withdrawal of a service. However, in grave situations this option should be given serious consideration.

In some circumstances, it may be possible to ensure that any member of staff who is particularly at risk can avoid being the victim of violence through amending their duties so that they do not contact the person who creates the risk of violence.

Can the risk of violence be “substituted” for a lesser risk?

For example, meeting a client in the office rather than in their home will not eliminate the risk of violence; however, the risks associated with an office meeting are usually less than a home visit. Obviously, this is not possible for staff that provide personal care.