Saturday, December 01, 2007

Safety of Front Line Housing Officers


Excellent article and survey in yesterday’s “Inside Housing” by Simon Brandon on the risks from violence at work and occupational stress for front line housing staff.

Working in “social housing” (ugly word, wish they could think of something else) has changed dramatically in recent years. The article has housing officers pointing out that they are now expected to be “social workers.....environmental health officers, plain clothes police officer and agony aunts”. None of which is in any job description. 73% have feared for their safety while at work.

I remember another inside housing survey in 2005 where 11% of staff reported that they had been held against their will in resident's homes.

I think that one of the biggest challenges is that most housing organisations are now really trying to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB). For years “neighbour nuisance “was sweep under the carpet as the sector complained about either the lack of effective legal powers or not having any co-operation with the Police.

However, “More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.” St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582). The government have now responded with an avalanche of ASB legislation and reorganised local policing. If you tackle this behaviour then the risk to housing staff has to be reassessed. Not only is the threat of being thumped (or worse) increased but often staff are expected to carry out this time intensive role without adequate extra resources.

Specific problems were identified such as inadequate sharing of information about known violent residents. Staff report that they are often alone in a room with someone whose background they know nothing about. They later find out that this person has a history of violent conduct. Also the massive increase in the size of many housing associations is also blamed for “driving a wedge between bosses and their housing officers”.

I think (surprise, surprise) that the role of the union safety representatives is central to addressing these problems. We need to make sure that suitable and sufficient safety risk assessments (including the risk of occupational stress) are carried out and regularly reviewed. Regular safety inspections of workplaces are undertaken, particularly of receptions and interview rooms. Accidents and incidents must be reported and properly investigated. There should be formal joint safety committee meetings with union reps and management. Problems and issues should be sorted out locally whenever possible.

The safety management system of an organisation must be constantly reviewed and audited. An organisation may have the best policies and procedures, however if they are not actually being implmented in practice and are just gathering dust on a shelf (or nowadays a computer hard disk) then they are just a waste of time.

The unions also have a responsibility to make sure that we recruit enough, train and properly support our safety reps.

One positive outcome of the survey was that a majority of staff (70%) reported that they enjoyed their work (despite low pay). I think we all recognise that the overwhelming majority of residents are not a threat, it is only a small minority of “vulnerable, desperate, manipulate or unwell people and they can often be very unpredictable”.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just read a great article about the RAF typist that was awarded 485thousand for repetitive strain injury...meanwhile a servicemen amputee was told he would have to join the NHS waiting list for phisiotherapy, and then he contracted MRSA in Selly Oaks Hospital? When is Mr Bean going to start to deal with this issue?

John Gray said...

Hi Comrade Anon

It does seem daft doesn’t it - I think though you will find that the award was not for RSI it was for another medical condition brought about by managements complete and utter failure to follow health and safety regulations.

You really must try to broaden your horizons a little and not believe everything you read (or read some stuff out of your comfort zone).

One of the best ways to address MRSA would be to end private contracting of cleaning services in hospitals and bringing it back “in house”. Joined up thinking and all that jazz.