Professional Services

Personal Safety for the Professional

Many in the Professions do not consider Personal Safety Training to be a necessity for themselves or their staff. In fact the Professions have risk factors that are not associated with other work environments, and these risks can be severe in some cases. Lawyers, Architects, Pharmacists and even Veterinary Surgeons and Opticians have been involved in attack by members of the public, and from time to time, colleagues.

Whatever the profession, the risks exist, and it is incumbent on the employer or partner to assess and provide adequate response procedures in order to protect workers.

What Are The Risks?

Many in the Professions do not consider their position to be high risk, and so do not take precautions. This behaviour can be hazardous, as quantifying and and reducing the risk of personal injury and attack can considerably reduce the incidence of such episodes.

Lawyers, in particular in the Family Division, can be at risk. Given the highly charged and often adversarial nature of Family Law, the emotional issues often dealt with and the variety of clients, the possibilities for a confrontation are many, and without recognising the risk, the professional can be vulnerable. In Criminal Law, the dangers are more obvious, however, these is still a lack of awareness of the multitude of risks, and how to deal with them in a practical manner.

Pharmacists fall within the at risk group simply due to the fact that they deal with a commodity can be both difficult to obtain, and highly sought after. Recent attacks have highlighted the dangers to pharmacists in both retail and clinical settings.

Vets have been subject to attacks from various quarters, particularly those Veterinary Surgeons who work in animal research, with contentious areas of farming practice and who work out of normal office hours, or lone work have a high exposure.

Optometrists who work in retail are also susceptible to attack from members of the public, and handling cash in a shopping environment can bring unforeseen perils.

Breakaway Training is offered as an option, and is based on tested and sound principles of escape without damage to the client or staff member.

A Certificate of Attendance is presented to all participants, and attendees are requested to complete a feedback form on completion of the course, in order that we can continue to improve our workshops and courses.

For more information, or to book a Personal Safety Training Seminar, please contact us on 01279 419427, or email from our contact page.