About the course

Work-related violence is on the rise and yet employers have a duty of care to provide a safe place of work. This is not easy in environments where the potential for conflict and aggression is high. Zero tolerance initiatives and commitment to prosecution have brought improvements in organisations like the NHS, London Underground and many pubs and clubs that now work together to monitor and bar known troublemakers. Yet high staff turnover and a lack of training mean many people are still vulnerable to physical and psychological damage. The costs to businesses can be very high indeed. The CIEH has developed this qualification to help organisations protect their staff as well as their organisational and operational effectiveness.

Course programme

This CIEH (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health) in-house course is delivered by an accredited trainer over one extended day (09.30 to 16.30) at the standard LAF course cost.

This course has an optional, half-hour, externally marked, multiple choice test which gives the formal accreditation. The cost of this test and the CIEH Accreditation fee is an extra £20.

There is a CIEH Workpook that may be purchased from the CIEH website if desired, but the course documentation should be an adequate reference source.

The qualification covers the following topics:

• The law
• The work environment
• Resolving confrontational situations
• Personal safety

The full course programme can be downloaded from the CIEH website, but an outline can be found at the end of this information sheet. 

Qualification information

Note:

Good health and safety practice makes good management sense. The cost in terms of lost working days, litigation or prosecution can be extremely bad for business. In 2003-2004 an estimated 39 million working days were lost in the UK through work-related ill health or injury. Sadly deaths and serious injuries are still commonplace. Yet so much can be avoided with just basic training.

Participants should be aware that this course follows the CIEH Training Guidelines and may not be as interactive as most LAF courses.

Extended course outline

THE CIEH LEVEL 2 AWARD IN CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND PERSONAL SAFETY SYLLABUS

A         INTRODUCTION

Candidates should understand the terminology of conflict resolution and should be able to:

1. State the HSE definition of ‘violence at work'.
2. Give examples of violent behaviour.
3. Describe the negative effects of violence in the workplace (low staff morale, high
   absenteeism and employee turnover, increased insurance premiums, physical
   and mental pain and distress to employees) that can have a detrimental
   impact on the business or organisation.
4. State the factors that can contribute to aconfrontational situation.
5. Describe the principles of conflict management.

B         THE  LAW

Candidates should understand the laws that apply to businesses and their employees, and should be able to:

1. Understand the difference between common law, criminal law and best practice guidance.
2. State in general terms the requirements of the current regulations in relation to the Criminal Law Act 1967, section 3 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
3. Define the four main categories of assault.
4. Describe the law regarding self-defence including the definitions of reasonable and justifiable force.
5. Understand the need to report and record any incidents of confrontational behaviour.

C         THE WORK ENVIRONMENT

Candidates should understand the concepts of a safe working environment and how the risk of conflict can be assessed and be able to:

1. Review the working environment to identify risks to personal safety.
2. State the benefits of developing company personal safety policies and procedures.
3. Explain how some specific situations may increase the risk of conflict.
4. Understand the importance of procedures to minimise the risks of conflict.

D         RESOLVING CONFRONTATIONAL SITUATIONS

Candidates should understand the use of appropriate methods to de-escalate a confrontational situation and should be able to:

1. Describe the indicators of aggressive behaviour.
2. Identify aggressive signals and behaviour.
3. State effective methods of defusing a potential confrontational situation.
4. Understand how verbal and non-verbal signals can be used as a means of conflict minimisation.
5. Describe how observational, listening and communication skills may be used to defuse conflict.

E          PERSONAL SAFETY

Candidates should understand the importance of personal safety and should be able to:

1. Give examples of common threats in the workplace.
2. Describe how to establish and maintain a personal safety zone.
3. Describe breakaway techniques to protect personal safety

Steve Pepper runs his own private training business specialising in Supported Housing, Health & Safety (including Food Hygiene) and staff development.

Steve is a graduate of the HCIMA and CIPD and a corporate member of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health.

Prior to his current role he spent a number of years as a training centre manager for a national registered charity delivering Apprenticeships, train to gain and working with people who faced significant disadvantages in life. He was also a Support and Resettlement Manager for ECHG in Leeds.

While working for Harrogate Health Care as a Training and Project Manager he gained invaluable experience as a control of infection rep and as taking the lead role on Pest Control Management for the Authority. He is an IRCA accredited ISO9000 series Auditor and has implemented a number of quality systems including PQASSO, ISO 9002, Customer First and various "In House" systems. Steve has recently undertaken a Diploma in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and is working towards being accredited as an NLP Practitioner.