Combating violence against adult social care staff and volunteers
3/2/2010

Skills for Care has been working with the Department of Health (DH), the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) and Local Government Employers (LGE to update the work of the DH's National Task Force on Violence against Social Care staff, originally published in 2001. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) were also consulted on the revisions.

The Health and Safety Executive defines work-related violence as:
            - Any incident in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work

Violence against social care workers (both staff and volunteers) remains a major concern and there is therefore a need for both employers and individuals to ensure effective risk reduction and appropriate responses whenever a violent incident occurs.

Skills for Care have developed a guide for employers and a guide for individuals.  We will be getting a supply of hard copies of both guides - please contact catherine.wilson@skillsforcare.org.uk if you are interested in receiving a supply.

Violence can occur in any work environment, including residential and day care settings. In addition, one of the greatest risk areas is where staff and volunteers visit or provide services to people in their own homes. Employers and individuals therefore need to take specific steps to reduce all such risks.

There is now a significant body of experience to support positive approaches to this area of work. This has to be set against an ongoing concern that best practice is not happening consistently across all social care agencies. It is therefore hoped that employers will use the materials and examples in these pages to review their local arrangements and ensure a clear and positive approach throughout their organisations.