Personal Safety in the Workplace - Top Tips for Your Personal Safety

May 26, 2009 - PRLog -- Search Consultancy Ltd, the UK’s leading recruitment consultancy, has teamed up with The Suzy Lamplugh Trust to raise awareness and educate its workforce and candidates on personal safety.

Search believes it has an important role to play in promoting personal safety and is offering training to its workforce on how to minimise the risk of becoming the victim of an opportune attack. The training session has been designed to equip consultants with enough knowledge on this issue to enable them to provide advice to their clients and candidates on personal safety in the workplace.

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust is the UK's national charity for personal safety and was set up to raise awareness and to provide solutions that effect change in order to help people to avoid violence and aggression and live safer, more confident lives.  

In 1986 Suzy Lamplugh, a 25 year old estate agent, disappeared after she went to meet an unknown client. So far her body has not been found and she has now been legally declared dead.

Suzy’s parents, Paul and Diana Lamplugh, believed that Suzy, like most people at that time - and even now - was simply unaware of the possible dangers that individuals can face in society so they founded the Trust to highlight the risks people face and to offer advice, action and support to minimise those risks.

Simone Corcoran, Director for Search Consultancy Ltd, said: “As an employer, we have a responsibility to ensure our employees are equipped with the knowledge to keep safe when conducting business, such as attending client meetings.

“We have equal responsibility to do the same for our temporary workers, many of whom work shifts or in remote locations and could therefore be considered easy targets if they are traveling long distances alone.”

To find out more go to http://www.searchconsultancy.co.uk/suzylamplughtrust

Top Tips for ensuring your personal safety at work

Personal Safety on Foot

By learning to recognise potential dangers you can usually avoid them.

• Avoid danger spots like quiet or badly lit alleyways, subways or isolated car parks. Walk down the middle of the pavement if the street is deserted.
• If you do have to pass danger spots, think about what you would do if you felt threatened. The best idea is to head for a public place where you know there will be other people
• If you are at all worried, try and walk with a friend or stay near a group of people.
• Avoid passing stationary cars with their engines running and people sitting in them.
• Try to keep both hands free and don’t walk with your hands in your pockets.
• Always take the route you know best and try to use well lit, busy streets.
• Walk facing on coming traffic to avoid curb crawlers.
• Keep your mind on your surroundings – remember if you are wearing an I pod you will not hear trouble approaching.
• It is a good idea to have a mobile phone with you.
• Be careful when using cashpoint machines. Make sure nobody is hovering nearby and don’t count your money in the middle of the street.
• If you think you are being followed, trust your instincts and take action. As confidently as you can, cross the road turning and look to see who is behind you. If you are still being followed, keep moving. Make for a busy area and tell people what is happening. If necessary, call the police.
• If a vehicle pulls up suddenly alongside you, turn and walk in the other direction - you can turn much faster than a car.
• Beware of someone who warns you of the danger of walking alone and then offers to accompany you. This is a ploy some attackers have been known to use.
• Under no circumstances accept a lift with a stranger or someone you don’t know very well.
• Try not to keep all your valuables in one place. Instead place valuables such as wallets in an inside pocket or use a money belt.
• One of the safest ways to carry things is in a small bag slung across your body under a jacket or coat. Ensure it sits close to your body.

Personal Safety & Parking Your Car

• Avoid using poorly lit car parks. Whenever possible, choose a manned car park and park as close as you can to the attendant.
• Reverse into the space. Hide away all valuables and obvious possessions.
• Make sure the interior light is working. Shut all windows. Lock all doors. Note exactly where you have parked your car.
• If you collect a ticket on entering the car park, do not leave it in the car, as this will make it easier for a thief to steal your vehicle.
• When returning to your car, have your keys ready so that you can get in quickly. Before entering scan the back seat to check no-one has climbed in.
• Once you are in the car lock the doors immediately and drive off quickly.
• Lock your doors every time you leave your car.

Personal Safety when Driving

Setting off
• Keep anything of value, such as bags or mobile phones out of sight - they make easy pickings for a snatch thief in stop-go traffic, especially if left on the front passenger seat.
• Lock the doors whenever you are in the car. If you are in an accident, windows can easily be broken to get you out. You are much safer driving along with the doors locked.
• Keep windows closed in busy areas and use the sun roof or fan for ventilation.

Feeling threatened while driving?
It is possible that while driving you may feel threatened. Modern phenomena such as road rage and car jacking, while high profile in the media, are thankfully still rare. However, these tips may help to avoid the more dangerous consequences of these potential on-the-road threats:
• If you think you are being followed you may find yourself clutching the wheel and finding it difficult to breathe. Breathe out slowly, release the tension in your hands, arms and shoulders. Hold the wheel hard again and once more let go and sigh. As you relax, you can begin to think clearly.
• Keep driving until you come to a busy place such as a police, fire or ambulance station or a pub or garage forecourt.
• If a car pulls up alongside you and the occupants try to attract your attention, ignore them and don’t make eye contact.
• If you see an accident or someone tries to flag you down, ask yourself if it is genuine and if you could really help - it might be best to drive on to the nearest phone or police station.
If another driver is causing you concern, a mobile phone, or even a toy phone, is an excellent way to put off unwanted attention. Phone, or pretend to phone the police, and make an obvious note of the registration number of the car. There is a good chance they will stop
pestering you if they think they will get caught.
• If a car pulls in front of you and forces you to stop, never switches off the engine. Stay calm and ensure all your doors and windows are locked. If the driver leaves his car to approach you, reverse as far as you can while continually sounding the horn and activating your hazard lights.
• If someone tries to force down a window, hit their hand with anything available and drive off carefully.

What happens if I break down?
• Pull as far off the road as you can and switch on your hazard lights.
• Use your mobile phone, or walk to the nearest phone and call your breakdown organisation or the police.

Remember to PLAN

Prepare
Look confident
Avoid risk
Never assume it won’t happen to you

For more information go to http://www.suzylamplugh.org
Or visit our website http://www.searchconsultancy.co.uk and click on the Help & Advice section where you will find a copy of this leaflet if you wish to forward it to friends or colleagues.

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Search Recruitment Consultants are a UK based recruitment agency with 11 offices throughout the UK. Our agents specialise in a wide range of job sectors and candidates can browse all our client's jobs online.