View Full Version : lone working policy's/Would you.?
cuddlepop
28-Feb-07, 13:01
My brother's girlfiend is working for a council in the central belt. They think its perfectly acceptable for her as a housing officer to go to peoples houses alone to chase up rent arears.This is in my mind an accident waiting to happen.
The council must accept she's in danger as they have fitted her with a panic alarm and have assured her that police assistence is minutes away.Her visits are mainly to drug and or alcohol dependent users and in the few day's she's been doing it is a wreck.[disgust]
Things are so bad she wants now to leave.
If she was in a union I dont think the council would have told her as I'm sure her Health &Saftey is compromised.
How do you protect yourself if your not in a union:confused
They must have a policy and she should have been trained in lone working and risk assessment. Is it a new thing they are asking her to do? Did she know it would be part of the job? They can't force her to do it if it's not been thought out how she goes about approaching these people.
Under H&S rules the job she does should have been risk assessed and the possibility of assault or worse must have been factored in.
I'm sure that she can ask to read the RA to find out if one has been done and also to see what was highlighted.
The fact she has a panic alarm would indicate they know the risk.
As her employer, they have a duty of care to her and so should listen and act onn any concerns she might have. If she feels her safety is at risk she must bring to their attention IN WRITING. Then if they fail to act on her concerns or she feels she can't do the job for fear of her safety she has a record of their failure to act.
I'm pretty sure she must qualify for membership of one of the public sector unions?
I don't think a panic alarm is the answer. I've been given them before and way I see it is it might give the person a fright but if they were going to attack you they will do it anyway and short of wearing it round your neck by the time you rummage in your bag the deed will be done.
The council must accept she's in danger as they have fitted her with a panic alarm and have assured her that police assistence is minutes away.
"Minutes" could be too late.:( In any case, she's obviously not comfortable with what she's being asked to do.
Are these visits part of her job description? Did she agree to carry them out when she started the job or at any subsequent review or appraisal?
Her not being in a union shouldn't make a difference. Are other employees in similar jobs being asked to carry out these visits?
I'd advise her to speak to her manager/HR department as a matter of urgency to discuss her concerns and try to sort this out. Easier said than done I know[evil]
My brother's girlfiend is working for a council in the central belt. They think its perfectly acceptable for her as a housing officer to go to peoples houses alone to chase up rent arears.This is in my mind an accident waiting to happen.
The council must accept she's in danger as they have fitted her with a panic alarm and have assured her that police assistence is minutes away.Her visits are mainly to drug and or alcohol dependent users and in the few day's she's been doing it is a wreck.[disgust]
Things are so bad she wants now to leave.
If she was in a union I dont think the council would have told her as I'm sure her Health &Saftey is compromised.
How do you protect yourself if your not in a union:confused
This is a growing problem, the same principle could be applied to teaching. Attacks on teachers is a growing problem but no steps are taken to protect teachers in the work place, especially in EBD classes, even though employers have a duty of care to protect staff.
cuddlepop
28-Feb-07, 15:24
They must have a policy and she should have been trained in lone working and risk assessment. Is it a new thing they are asking her to do? Did she know it would be part of the job? They can't force her to do it if it's not been thought out how she goes about approaching these people.
As far as I'm aware this is a new angle to her job.This council has such a problem with rent arrears they are going round to peoples houses.Know amount of training can protect you from a situation that requires reasoning when someone is "Off their face"
From a health board angle know employee was expected to deal with a client/patient if they were deamed to be aggresive.You alwas worked in pairs.
Poor woman will be off with stress soon if this situation is allowed to carry on.:mad:
Join the Union - NOW and get them to help her immediately to resolve this issue
Join the Union - NOW and get them to help her immediately to resolve this issue
Squidge I would second that....join up right away
Yes she will go off her head if she can't speak up for herself and tell them it aint happening. She needs to go and speak to her boss/HR and say she isn't happy and like it's been said risk assessments need to be done and a system where 2 of them can go out to really dodgy ones. They can't send people out to knock on doors without a robust policy.
If it was me the whole place would know about it lol and my poor boss wouldn't dare try this on with me. It's a shame but if she carries on doing it without fuss they will assume she is happy to do so. Good luck to her.
cuddlepop
28-Feb-07, 15:59
Will tell her tonight to join a union if she hasn't already.:)
She could join a union but that shouldn't make her be treated any differently just cause she isn't in one. Sorry to say but in my experience of unions which has been some they are useless. ok they might be able to speak on her behalf but if this is a local authority she is working for then they should be ashamed of themselves but if it's a private housing association it could be different as they will try and get away with it.
I think it's important that she doesn't carry on doing it, tell her not to go out to houses anymore until a resolution she is happy with.
cuddlepop
28-Feb-07, 16:05
She could join a union but that shouldn't make her be treated any differently just cause she isn't in one. Sorry to say but in my experience of unions which has been some they are useless. ok they might be able to speak on her behalf but if this is a local authority she is working for then they should be ashamed of themselves but if it's a private housing association it could be different as they will try and get away with it.
I think it's important that she doesn't carry on doing it, tell her not to go out to houses anymore until a resolution she is happy with.
Its a local authority and in our experience UNISON are brilliant.:(
I'm in Unison and we have a situation going on here for nearly 3 years and nothing further but I suppose they do all the negotiating for you. I'm surprised it's local authority but that's better for her then. Hope she gets it sorted.
Is she is in a union she has access to their specialist help - she wont have to do this alone - they will help and support her and speak for her if she needs them to do so. Taking on your employer can be a hard job and she will need to be sure she has as much support as possible
My brother's girlfiend is working for a council in the central belt. They think its perfectly acceptable for her as a housing officer to go to peoples houses alone to chase up rent arears.This is in my mind an accident waiting to happen.
The council must accept she's in danger as they have fitted her with a panic alarm and have assured her that police assistence is minutes away.Her visits are mainly to drug and or alcohol dependent users and in the few day's she's been doing it is a wreck.[disgust]
Things are so bad she wants now to leave.
If she was in a union I dont think the council would have told her as I'm sure her Health &Saftey is compromised.
How do you protect yourself if your not in a union:confused
The whole idea of a panic alarm is that it meets the min requirements for a person working alone but the bottom line is she should be risk assesing every job first and if the area she is going to is unsafe she should report it and refuse to go there unless acompany by someone else and its worth reporting it to the health and safety so if something does happen and she has reported it and nothing has been done about it she can sue
What i dont understand is why she isnt in a union i thought the council was riddled with union members
cuddlepop
28-Feb-07, 20:18
The whole idea of a panic alarm is that it meets the min requirements for a person working alone but the bottom line is she should be risk assesing every job first and if the area she is going to is unsafe she should report it and refuse to go there unless acompany by someone else and its worth reporting it to the health and safety so if something does happen and she has reported it and nothing has been done about it she can sue
What i dont understand is why she isnt in a union i thought the council was riddled with union members
Unions aren't promoting themselves the way they use too.Know one approached me on any of the occasions that I was employed by HC or lately the Health Board.
The younger generation aren't made aware of the benefits of joining and is in some cases frowned upon.:eek:
My sister has a similar job in Leeds but she works for the dss fraud squad. She often had to go knocking on doors to tell people they had been caught. She was attacked once which left her hospitalised and since then the dss changed there policys. Now no lone officer male or female makes home visits, if there is a risk of violence then they are accomponied by a police officer albiet a community officer but still some sort of back up. I also thought after the estate agent went missing Susie lamphough I know i have spelt sir name wrong but thats how it sounds. That all employers had to do the same as dss.
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