Does anyone do a job that involves going to peoples homes? How to you ensure you're safe?

[Glassofwine]

Am thinking of a new job, which involves going into peoples houses and am wondering how I would go about making sure that I was safe. Have had a look at the Susy Lamplugh website, but strangely no information on that scenario.

Anyone else have any ideas?

Have found the name tag people, but not a monitoring company yet, I'll keep looking.

I would be invited by them to do a service, so not trying to sell anything or threaten them in any way.

Well, it's obviously something that I need to think about and do a bit of research on.

I used to have to visit people at home and as i worked with young offenders i wasn't always a welcme visitor.

similarly to everyone else the diary was always up to date with where you were.
the idea was that you called into the office to update admin when you left one client and were off to another but it ofetn didn't happen.

TBH i never felt that concerned about my safety but i am quite a scarey person myself and always appear far more confident than i am so never felt intimidated.

agree about not taking a handbag with you, and wear sensible clothing and little jewellery.

I used to be a mental health worker in community so kept used to write down everywhere I was going and approx times I would be there. WE also used to have a code word so if stuck would phone office and mention is it in the 'red file' etc so people were aware of a problem. Also used to phone office at end of every visit.
If someone was particular risk we would go out in twos or arrange for them to come into office while doing assessments.
You should also learn some descalation/ self defence techniques to help defuse any situations.

A bit basic but you could set up a text with the address and HELP before you go in, so it can be sent quickly from phone in pocket discretly to DH or freind if things got nasty. Could end with a few false alarms if you press send by accident, but you could arrange it that contact person has to phone and if you don't answer they dial 999.

you can set your speed dial to call 999 if you press and hold number 1.

that way you can just press the button with teh phone in your pocket.

Some info and ideas on the HSE site links on left for different industries.

What about finding someone who is doing a similar job and setting up a buddy system, e.mail each other your days calls and agreed times to call. If no contact the other person will have you daily schedule, vehicle registraion, even a photo to give to police.

I know of some companies that have night watchmen that are working on their own, they have to phone each other at set times, if no call the other will try to phone them if no answer they call 999. I think it is to make sure they are awake but it does mean they are looking out for each other.

Thank you ladies for some great ideas, I like the buddy system too.

I work in the community and do home visits. Where I used to work in London, and psychologist was stabbed by a client, and was left partially paralysed. All domicilliary staff there had really tight security, which we did find a bit of a pain in the arse (I had to go into the office at 9.00pm to find out where a member of astaff was supposed to have done her last visit as she didnt call in) but at least we knew what the risk was. Where I work now everyone is so laid back that noone bothers to phone in anymore - they used to act surprised when I did so I stopped bothering.

I do think its important to research your clients before visiting to find out if there is anything you need to know! Also self-protection and breakaway training are worth having.

I am a support worker for a Housing association. We go into peoples homes on visits frequently. We have a fantastic safety service we used called Guardian. Basically you call a security service and tell them your where abouts and key in the amount of minutes you expect be on the visit. The service then calls you when the time is up. If you dont answer it calls you again after 2 minutes, after that it either calls your manager or alerts the police.
I think the Susy Lamplugh trust recommended them.

World Tracker

This has been so interesting, I'm really glad I posted about it. You've all had some great points and it's been very helpful.

Something I hadn't really thought about before, I get into a lot of potentially dangerous situations but I have other staff to hand and means of contacting them. I have had conflict resolution training etc. Never considered other jobs I fancy like estate agency to be more dangerous but I suppose they are.

I used to do market research in people's homes and there were no mobile phones then (1990 - 1992) - DH knew which town I was working in and that was about the size of my security, and I worked in some really rough areas sometimes, at night too.

I just went by gut instincts and never had any problems, but would have been a lot happier with a mobile and 999 on speed-dial

I've stopped going. It means I miss out on loads of commission (I'm a financial advisor) but it used to worry me so much. I'm not keen on dogs either, and would lie awake at night dreading turning up to an appointment and finding a man on his own with a pack of rabid dogs.......

I used to home visit all the time in a deprived London borough when doing housing benefit assessments - we left lists of addresses and people knew when we were due back to the office - I never had any problems other than how to politely refuse cups of tea from people where every surface of their house was covered in sticky dusty stuff.... But I would say find a personal safety course to go on. Does the profession you're entering have a trade body or membership association? They might be able to point you in the direction of the sort of service you're looking for.