Resident Liaison Officer

Staff making home visits are primarily at risk socially and as a result there is potential for them to be on the receiving end of abuse and/ or attack. There are many workers of this type; a prime example of a relevant job function is a housing or resident liaison officer. Liaison workers face risk frequently, they often work alone, potentially out of hours, and sometimes utilise a lone worker system that works on a rigid call back basis - this is not able to help a lone worker at the point of aggression - only afterwards (unlike Identicom), which may be too late. Effective training can also allow them to better manage conflict situations as well as to perform dynamic risk assessments routinely.

Data provided by the Office of National Statistics from 2009 states there are 176,000 Housing & Welfare officers in UK employment as well as 115,000 Youth & Community workers employed. As well as the obvious benefits of being able to raise an alarm, a solution from Connexion2 can also enable workers of this type the means to record valuable audio evidence for later use should it be needed. Figures obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request revealed there were 1,196 recorded attacks on housing staff in England and Wales between 2006 and 2008. It's worth bearing in mind that these incidents are often under-reported, but they do equate to one per day.

Being at risk socially can often result in an increase in occurrences of stress amongst staff. Over the period of 2006-07 / 2008 - 09 statistics from the Health & Safety Executive show the average estimated prevalence of illness ascribed to their current or most recent job, relating specifically to Housing & Welfare Officers was listed at 7,000 per annum.

If you factor in that figure against the typical financial costs associated with sickness absence, overtime payments, lost production, missed deadlines and recruitment it represents a significant investment. In addition to the financial risks to a business, prolonged or intense incidents of stress can lead to a variety of illnesses for the lone worker including depression, back pain or heart disease among others.

Case Studies

Family Mosaic Chooses SoloProtect For Lone Workers

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