Personal Safety Training

There are many causes of work place conflict and there are few organisations that do not experience this at some time or other.
Causes include poor management, individual anger management problems, stress possibly due to a bad working environment or problems at home this list is not exhaustive.

Below is an example of the tragic consequences of stress/conflict in the workplace not being addressed.

Teacher arrested on suspicion of attempted murder
• Pupil allegedly hit with weight from set of scales

Teacher Peter Harvey not guilty over dumbbell assault on pupil
A teacher who beat a boy’s head with a dumbbell while shouting “die, die, die” walked free from court yesterday after being cleared of attempted murder because he was mentally unwell and had been tormented by the pupil.
In a case that raised doubts about whether there was sufficient help available for stressed teachers struggling with disruptive children, Peter Harvey, 50, was cleared after the jury deliberated for little more than an hour. He was also cleared of grievous bodily harm with intent.
You can read the full story here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jul/09/teacher-arrested-mansfield
Peter Harvey did not go into work on that particular day with the intention of attacking a pupil with a set of dumbbells that would be totally illogical, but when adrenalin kicks in logic goes out the window.
For an assault such as this to take place a person first needs to be triggered
Road rage is a good example of this the trigger normally being someone cutting you up.
This sends a message to the brain that danger is imminent and chemicals are released at the speed of Concorde as we enter into the flight or fight mode.
Peter Harvey did not need to be triggered on that particular day he was already triggered from previous encounters with certain pupils who had been constantly baiting him and he was entering the next stage on the “Assault Cycle” Escalation which led to the Crisis stage where the attack took place.
Could Conflict Resolution/Management training have prevent this
One of the elements contained in conflict resolution training is Non verbal communication, we can-not not communicate identifying the early Warning and Danger signs are the key to prevention in cases such as this.
Stress is a major contributor to conflict and conflict increases at particular times of the year.
We have just got to the end of another year and listening to the news as I was writing this article I was saddened to hear that there had been at least one death each and every day through the festive session in the UK alone that was caused through some kind of conflict.
The world would be a better/safer place to live if conflict was identified (in others & self) and dealt with in the early stages and this can only be achieved with training.
Brooks Jordan work with schools throughout the UK to provide Conflict Resolution to teenagers to prepare them for the challengers they will encounter as they move into the adult world and we wonder is it not now the time to have this training as part of the national curriculum .

For information about the training provided by Brooks Jordan please go to: www.brooksjordan.co.uk

or contact Chris: emai chris@brooksjordan.co.uk or telephone on 01623 407793

What is Conflict Resolution or as it is sometimes called Conflict Management training?

Conflict Resolution/Management training courses often cover a wide area.

The training usually contains elements of Personal Safety/Lone Working and managing difficult/potentially violent individuals.

Conflict Resolution training can also include Disengagement, Breakaway Skills and even Physical Intervention training, e.g. the new door supervisors training course now includes both Breakaway Skills training & Physical Intervention training which are nationally accredited and fully endorsed by both the SIA and Skills for Security.

However the security industry, the medical profession and law enforcement agencies all agree that Physical Intervention should always be the last resort and only considered when all other options have failed.

The starting point prior to training in conflict resolution is to find out what issues the contracting organisation is experiencing and the initial assessment should include a full training needs analysis.

This will allow the course designers to prepared relevant work related scenarios for delegates to work with during the training.

Communication skills need to be explored and delegates need to be able to use the relevant Communication skill tools to practice diffusion techniques when working through their work related scenarios.

Delegates also need to able to identify different types of conflict that they may experience which can be divided into three broad areas as follows.

• Conflict in the work place: e.g. conflict with colleagues, management, work place bullying etc.
• Conflict with service users: individuals whom the engage with outside their own organisation.
• Conflict within ourselves: Anger management issues.

All three elements can often be found in one organisation and if not managed this can have a devastating effect on staff morale and in the worst case scenario even bring down an entire organisation.

There are many reasons for conflict in the work place and the conflict needs to be identified and dealt with swiftly before it escalates into something far more serious.

Training in this area is far more difficult than in the other two categories.

The training needs analysis will often identify numerous training issues and different training needs, e.g. one to one training (anger management issues), Individual group work, and whole group participation.

The training will need to be delivered by highly qualified and experienced trainers.

Qualifications should include a general teacher/trainer qualification (Ptlls) or an equivalent qualification. A qualification in communication skills, e.g. NLP or TA (ideally both), and finally a recognised Conflict Resolution qualification such as the level 3 award in Conflict management.

Trainers need also to have personal experience of dealing with conflict and ideally have considerable counselling skills.

In my January 2012 blog I will be identifying the causers of workplace conflict and how to address these to create a better working environment for staff and management alike.

For information about conflict resolution training go to our web site: www.brooksjordan.co.uk or email Chris @brooksjordan.co.uk

What is Conflict Resolution?

Conflict resolution is a general term often used to describe personal safety & managing violence/aggression training courses.

Do teenagers need conflict resolution/conflict management skills?

The answer is most definitely Yes

The facts: The most vulnerable members of society in the UK and many other countries are young men between the ages of 15 and 24.

Anger and aggression is a part of our every day life.  While as individuals our anger may be justifiable – who does not feel anger when they hear about the big payouts made to bankers, or cuts to public spending which will affect their quality of life or the riots.  But what people don’t have a right to be is hostile and abusive towards others.  Understanding what is acceptable and what is not is the key to managing anger successfully and avoiding aggression.

Brooks Jordan has been providing Personal Safety & Conflict Management training courses to both independent and state sector schools for over 15 years and the fact that we are called back year after year to repeat this training is testimony to the effectiveness of our personal safety programme for schools.

Do teenage girls need Conflict Management skills?  Again definitely – Yes.  Although young women are less disposed to physical aggression than young men the risk for women is always greater in a male to female confrontation, due to the imbalance in strength between men and women.  Hence for young women the risks are in relation to their personal safety, rather than girl on girl physical aggression.  Here avoidance and remaining alert to potential dangers are of greater importance than the risk of conflict or confrontation between women.   Nevertheless young women will be going out with young men and in groups so could easily be drawn into a conflict situation where conflict resolution skills could prevent a hostile encounter from escalating.

For these reasons Brooks Jordan’s Personal Safety Awareness for Students programme is specifically tailored to meet the needs of teenagers, men or women, heading off to college, university or further education in cities they will be unfamiliar with.  For the majority of young people this will the first time they have left the safety of their own home and family to experience the excitement and freedom of independent living.  Few will truly appreciate the risks they may face nor the realise how potentially more hostile their new environment in some of the big cities such as London, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham or Nottingham may be.  This is often quite a culture shock for students bought up in rural or less confrontational parts of the UK.

For more information about the training delivered to schools by Brooks Jordan go to:

http://www.brooks-jordan.com/page/personal_safety_travel_safety_training_for_teenagers_young_adults

or ring us on (01623) 407793 and ask to speak to Julie for more information about this essential training for students.

Brooks Jordan is working with St Bede’s School in East Sussex to deliver personal safety training to students preparing to leave school for a gap year or to go to university.

When St Bede’s first approached Brooks Jordan they asked for breakaway skills training for their year 11 pupils but after the first booking, Senior Tutor Coranne Laws booked an additional date with managing violence & aggression trainers Chris Jordan and his team of experts for sixth formers.  Coranne commented,

‘We booked Brooks Jordan as part of a scheduled Personal Safety Day for year 11 students with the aim of preparing our students for the potential risks associated with the greater freedom and autonomy they begin to experience as they move into adulthood. We were looking to provide our students with some practical advice and techniques to enable them to avoid and manage possible threats to their personal safety when in the community, particularly in the evenings.’

Coranne went on to explain why St Bede’s had found Brooks Jordan’s training so useful;

‘The year 11 sessions were very successful, student feedback was positive and supervising staff supported the view that the Brooks Jordan sessions were excellent. Students were taught to understand aggressive body language and how to use their own body language to de-escalate potentially aggressive situations. Following this success we decided to book them again to train year 13 students, this time focusing specifically on preparing students for moving away to University. The trainers shared their knowledge of crimes commonly committed against students and gave advice to enable them to avoid common pitfalls.

Our 6^th formers appreciated the opportunity to discuss strategies and techniques and found the chance to practice breakaway techniques both enjoyable and empowering.’

Director Chris Jordan commented:

‘The training is about raising awareness, getting young people to consider potential risks and to plan ahead.  It’s also about looking out for each other when socialising – what might be regarded in police parlance as ‘target hardening.’

We’re delighted that St Bede’s School has chosen Brooks Jordan to deliver personal safety training to its pupils. The school is pleased with our work and we look forward to working with them for many years to come.

Teachers are to receive self-defence lessons to protect themselves from violent pupils
Teachers will be taught techniques to restrain violent pupils safely and also how to defuse threatening situations.
The aim is to protect teachers and cut the growing number of staff accused of assaulting pupils.
Teachers from primary, secondary and special schools will be trained in the techniques and will pass them onto colleagues.
Schools in Powys, Mid Wales will be the first to try out the special training.
False accusations of assault have blighted the careers of many teachers.
Read full story @: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-64702/Teachers-given-self-defence-lessons.html#ixzz1ASj0mNUx

See recent case in Nottinghamshire
Teacher arrested on suspicion of attempted murder
• Pupil allegedly hit with weight from set of scales
• Science master questioned over two other incidents

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jul/09/teacher-arrested-mansfield

Teacher Peter Harvey not guilty over dumbbell assault on pupil
A teacher who beat a boy’s head with a dumbbell while shouting “die, die, die” walked free from court yesterday after being cleared of attempted murder because he was mentally unwell and had been tormented by the pupil.
In a case that raised doubts about whether there was sufficient help available for stressed teachers struggling with disruptive children, Peter Harvey, 50, was cleared after the jury deliberated for little more than an hour. He was also cleared of grievous bodily harm with intent.
Read full story@http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article7111814.ece
For more information about Self-defence training for schools visit: www.brooksjordan.co.uk

Employers are by required by Health & Safety legislation and other supporting legislation to assess the risk of violence as they would any other workplace related potential hazard. This is the beginning or staring point of an objective process that includes control measures; included in this is training.
As well as assessing the risk regarding violence in the context of health and safety,
organisations must assess risk in the context of the services provided and consider all relevant related legislation and guidelines. The threat of violence must be mitigated as far as possible

There are two main types of risk assessment to assess the risk of violence
(1) Pre-Planned (2) unplanned normally referred to as Dynamic Risk Assessment

(1) Planned Assessment (carried out prior to duties being performed)
A planned assessment should be undertaken and reviewed at set intervals in accordance with the organisations policies on risk assessments by designated individuals. It is important that employers clearly set out who is responsible and what level of assessment is required, how and when these should be carried out.

Recording systems and tools need to be identified to support the process and they
must be effective in identifying and distributing key information to management and all relevant staff in relation to the risks of violence and where necessary should be evidence based.

Any need for further improvements, control measures or risk assessments should be recorded and the necessary time schedules for this recorded.
It is also essential to analyse reported incidents including any near misses, and to identify common events and how often they occur.

Planned (static) risk assessments, must include the following:

 All Incident reports including near misses and threats & trends
 Policies/procedures and role expectations
 Environmental/situational risk factors
 Tasks activities & any high risk duties performed by the staff etc
 The Root causes behind the event and any other relevant information
 Service user and any other bystanders considerations.

One of the UK’s top Health & Safety litigation barristers uses just 4 questions when deciding if there is a case to answer:

(1) Could the risk have been foreseen ?
(2) Where policies & Procedure put in place ?
(3) Were training needs identified and carried out ?
(4) Did the staff respond as they had been trained too ?

If a negative answer is given to any of the above then someone is liable and litigation will follow.

Dynamic risk assessment (carried out whilst performing duties)

A situations can develop suddenly usually by unexpected circumstances and an accurate dynamic situational risk assessment may have to be conducted on the spot.
Staff in these circumstances need to act in a way that they could legally & morally justify
They will need to make an immediate assessment of the situation and may have to employ escape tactics.
This is why good personal safety training is important staff should have been trained and provided with the necessary tools to make a safe retreat.
Research as established that when violence as occurred it was established that it was the individual staff members response that escalated the situation.

Example of a pre-planned & dynamic risk assessment

An health visitor is requested to make an home visit on an elderly lady (Lone working situation)

A planned risk assessment is carried out which identifies the following:

The lady is in her eighties and lives alone in a respectable rural county village
A check with on the critical incident register identifies no previous issues related to this property so this is rated as a low risk situation.

However the member of staff later visits the lady and the door is answered by a young untidy looking man who reluctantly lets the health visitor in.

The elderly lady identifies the young man as her nephew who is just visiting and goes on to say she had not seen him for many years prior to him turning up without any warning.

The heath visitor having been trained in personal safety & conflict resolution recognises the Warning signs being demonstrated by the young man and carries out a dynamic risk assessment.

The health worker has also been trained in breakaway skills and knows the importance of keeping her exits routes clear, maintaining a good reaction gap, and being pre-pared to use a pre- programmed response if the situation changers, e.g she starts to witness Danger signs

The pre-programmed response could be some-thing as simple as making an excuse to return to her vehicle for example claiming she need to go and get a benefit form from the car.

The use of any physical breakaway skills should only be used as a last result when all other forms of diffusion have been applied and failed.

Post critical incident debrief & review

All near miss incidents provide valuable learning enabling staff & management to evaluate the risk assessments control measures.
Staff should be encouraged to see every situation as a leaning experience (e.g No such thing as failure only feedback)
This particularly important in incidents involving conflict resolution and diffusions techniques e.g How could we do this better next time ?

Conclusion•

An effective work related violence risk assessment is the key factor to a successful violence prevention strategy

 Planned risk assessments are the main starting position s and are necessary for the establishing good/effective control measures
 Certain duties and job specific activities carry inherent risks should be identified within the risk assessment process to reduce the risk of violence
 Dynamic risk assessment training will help staff to respond appropriately to a developing situation and minimise the risk of escalation into violence etc
 Incidents and near misses need to be professionally monitored & assessed to ensure personal support and identify any further training needs
 Enquiries need to concentrate on the Root cause
 An effective training programme needs to be put in place incorporating all available risk assessment data and should be continually monitored

Why good professional physical intervention skills training is so important

Shoplifter begged for mercy as guard ‘choked him to death.

A shopping centre security guard killed a shoplifter trying to stop him escaping with a bottle of perfume.

Aaron Bishop, 23, turned blue and pleaded ‘please help me’ as he was choked by Sam Bawden, 25, according to witnesses.

Horrified shoppers begged him to let go of Mr Bishop, a former Guardsman at Windsor, but Bawden maintained a firm grip around the throat and when police arrived, Mr Bishop was dead.’

‘Four security guards tried to restrain him after he took the bottle of Joop! from the Debenhams store at the busy Quadrant Shopping Centre in Swansea.
Prosecutor Patrick Harrington QC said; ‘Mr Bishop was seen on CCTV to steal a bottle of Joop! perfume. It was priced at £35 but the cost proved very high indeed.

Bawden, of Neath, South Wales, denies manslaughter in July last year…
The case continues at Swansea Crown Court.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1313952/Security-man-killed-shoplifter-Guard-choked-death-35-perfume.html#ixzz10qCPEXI4

The above tragic news report just goes to highlight the importance of understanding the dangers involved in physical intervention.

As an experienced martial artist who as trained up to black belt standard in Judo and other martial arts I understand just how effective a properly executed strangle hold can be, but also recognise just as lethal this can be.

Many things can go wrong when applying physical intervention techniques (often known as Control & Restraint) which is why training should be of the utmost importance for employers who are likely to have to employees who may need to use  physical controlling techniques such as those working in the security industry.

The Police and Medical profession trainers have for many years known the dangers associated with physical restraint and there have been many incidents of defendants & patients losing their lives whilst restraint techniques were being applied.

Strangulation is a band technique now in any accredited Physical Intervention training course, but there are numerous other potential life threatening issues such as positional asphyxia.

This occurs when pressure is put on an individual’s chest whist attempting to pin them down to the floor etc

This restricts the intake of air causing the individual to panic which is often wrongly interpreted as fighting back and there have been many tragic incidents of this in police custody suites & Psychiatric wards.

The SIA have now recognised that training in physical interventions is important and have introduced this as a new module to be undertaken by anyone now wishing to gain employment in high level security work e.g. a door supervisor in the UK.

As with the other modules that have to be taken delegates will have to demonstrate their competence in this area to receive their pass accreditation.

Hopefully this training will give those individuals now joining this industry the necessary tools they need to carry out the job without putting others or themselves at risk.

Sadly though this would not have prevented the death of Aaron Bishop or the criminal proceedings being brought against Sam Bawden as this training is currently only compulsory for those individuals who are now seeking to obtain the SIA badge and there are no current plans for this to be extended to those already licenced.

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Lock Up Your Daughters* – (And Other Unrealistic Suggestions for 21st Century Living)
Any parent will tell you their greatest concern is for the safety of their children. Conscientious parents wouldn’t dream of letting younger children cross the road without teaching them how to cross safely – so why is it so hard to provide the same life skills when teenagers start to socialise independently?
The answer may be that teenagers simply don’t want to listen to over protective parents. Or perhaps parents don’t feel able to provide the right advice – after all the world is now a very different place to how it was even thirty years ago. For these reasons schools are now starting to buy in life skills training for teenagers about to make their way in the world for the first time.
Life Skills Training
So what does the training cover? For pupils of Silverdale School, a beacon language academy in Sheffield, this training has been on offer for over ten years. The programme covers managing personal safety awareness, risks to be aware of when visiting, local public houses, night clubs, taking taxis, and generally going out and about alone in an unfamiliar city – a common experience for students heading off to university for the first time. Students new to an unfamiliar town experiencing independence for the first time often find it exciting to visit backstreet pubs where they will be unfamiliar with the area, its reputation or, once inebriated may even have difficulty finding their way home. This can pose its own risks as students new to and unfamiliar with an area may be easily identified by local thugs who see them as easy targets.
So here are a few of the simple tips taught by Brooks Jordan –
When you go clubbing/partying
• If possible try to go out as a group of friends or at least arrange for someone to be your nightclub buddy for the night.
• Arrange to regroup at the end of the evening to travel home together.
• If an individual wants to go home separately make sure the rest of the group know where that person is going and who with.
• If someone you don’t know offers to buy you a drink, make sure you watch the drink being served and handed to you.
• It is also best to drink bottled beers straight from the bottle. However undignified this may seem, it makes it much more difficult for someone to drop something in to a bottle than a wide necked glass (Date Rape drugs etc ). Although this practice can cause other problems e.g Wails decease
• Don’t leave your drinks unattended – leave someone you can trust to watch over them or finish your drink before leaving it.
• Watch out for each other – if one of your group seems suddenly disorientated or appears to be drunk without having had too much to drink, speak to one of the bar staff or club security team quickly and ask for help. It is now a legal requirement for door staff to be trained to identify and deal with someone who may have been given a date rape drug.
• Women out partying should also pay attention to their environment both the area – student accommodation can often be located in rougher neighbourhoods – and also the venue itself. In particular women should avoid drinking too much and should remain aware of their surroundings at all times. Being aware of warning/danger signs alerting you to potential dangers is far more difficult if you are under the influence of drink or drugs.

Personal Safety when travelling.
Getting Home
• Make sure you have the number of a trusted taxi company handy
• Order the taxi as if you were ordering it for someone else (find a quiet spot to do this)
• For example – ‘I’d like a taxi for my sister please’ ‘Yes – travelling from Upper Parliament Street Nottingham to High Street Beeston’. ‘ What time shall I tell her to expect you?’….. ‘How long will it take her to get here?’ ‘What’s the name of the driver?’
• This gives the impression that there is someone at home expecting you to get home, knows what time this will be and the name of the driver and the taxi firm if you don’t arrive at the agreed time.
• When the taxi arrives make it sound as if you’re just receiving a phone call – ‘Yes I’m on my way home now – yes it’s just arrived’. ‘The driver?’ (To the driver) ‘Sorry its my sister/ Mum/ Auntie just wanting to make sure I’ve got the right taxi can I just tell them what you’re name is and what time they can expect me home?’
• Back to the phone ‘ Yes of course its a proper taxi his number is (read out the drivers number or the registration plate number).
• If you don’t have a nightclub buddy to take this call and there isn’t anyone at home waiting for you then still ring an answer machine and leave this conversation as a message on the machine. It serves the same purpose – no driver intent on abducting you will risk it if they think they’re likely to get caught. There are easier victims out there after all.
• When travelling on other forms of public transport such as buses or trains, avoid taking the window seat as anyone taking the aisle seat next to you will block you in. Sitting in the aisle seat will give you a far better chance of getting out if something untoward happens.
If you think these tips are useful and know someone who might want Street Survival training then contact us here for details of training in your area. If you mange a youth group or are in teaching and want more details for your club school or society then contact us to get further details of our Street Survival Skills Training for Teenagers or for more advice on Personal Safety Go to : www.brookskordan.co.uk
*Young men between the ages of 16 and 26 are the most vulnerable group in society as statistically they come off worst as victims of violent street attacks. [This may or may not surprise you and will be covered in more depth in next month’s blog.]

Best practice guide for purchasing personal safety, conflict resolution & physical intervention training.

The ten things you need to consider prior to engaging with training providers which some training providers may not want you to know read more »

How safe are we from gun crime?. Peter Hitchens excellent article below examines some of the issues after the latest rampage in Cumbria.
Perhaps Derrick Bird’s deadly rampages aren’t so ‘inexplicable’ after all
Yet another gun massacre is followed by yet another typhoon of psychobabble,
sentiment and bogus declarations that ‘this must never happen again’, when everyone knows that it will.
It’s difficult to argue for tighter gun laws, since they’re already so tight, though I’m sure the authorities will think of something suitably irrelevant and futile, as they did after Hungerford and Dunblane.
They are determined to make sure nobody in this country is armed, apart from criminals and terrorists, the invariable effect of ‘tough’ gun laws that trouble only the law-abiding and have no impact on illegally held weapons at all. read more »