Making Our Environments Safe
It goes without saying that our organisations should be safe places for all. And by ‘safe’, we need to consider not just the physical and practical aspects of our environments, but also how we are promoting and ensuring emotional safety, for individuals and staff alike.
So how do we make our environments, in the broadest sense, healthy, positive and safe, where individuals feel supported, secure and confident to take risks and grow their independence?
Formulating formal and dynamic risk assessments
Risk assessments are one of the best ways to make our environments as safe as possible for everyone.
Formal risk assessments prepare us for things that may happen in the future and provide us with guidance on how best to respond in certain situations. They document foreseeable eventualities and reflect the thought processes behind maximising safety for the children, young people, and adults in our care. By taking previous incidents into account, and using our knowledge of individuals, we can build a comprehensive and detailed report.
Unlike a formal risk assessment, which pre-empts, evaluates and addresses known risk, a dynamic risk assessment works in real time; it’s our response to an ever-changing situation as it unfolds or evolves. At times like this, we need to make swift decisions ‘in the moment’, to reduce risk and keep people safe.
Ensuring the safety of children, young people, and adults requires extensive knowledge of formal risk assessments, insight into individuals’ behaviour support or care plans, and the confidence to formulate a dynamic risk assessment, if and when required.
You might find our risk flowchart helpful to download here.
Managing physical hazards in our settings
When it comes to the physical environment in which we operate, there are numerous practical control measures we can put in place to reduce the likelihood of danger, and minimise risk for children, young people, and adults.
Carrying out daily checks enables us to ensure that the environment and any equipment is safe, and that potential dangers have been identified and addressed. While there might be a specific person assigned to oversee the maintenance of our buildings and their contents, it is incumbent on all of us to be vigilant, and continually check for potential hazards.
Electrical equipment and appliances must comply with modern safety standards. This includes items such as plug sockets, lights, and kitchen appliances. Regular inspections and testing should be carried out, and written records kept centrally. Potential hazards, such as electrical wires and cables, must be neatly arranged, so they are not hanging down from the ceiling, or trailing on the ground.
Potentially harmful items, such as knives and scissors, should be stored appropriately, and returned after use. Dangerous chemicals and medications need to be kept in a labelled cupboard, and locked away, if appropriate.
Furniture, such as bookcases, cupboards, and tables, should be checked for missing or broken parts, and secured into place (if possible and practical), in case somebody climbs on them. It’s also worth considering moving extraneous furniture, to allow for comfortable movement around rooms and other spaces.
Windows, especially those beyond ground level, should have safety latches to ensure that they cannot be fully opened. We should avoid placing furniture near to windows or staircases, as this may encourage individuals to climb.
Entry and exit points to the setting must be supervised, and appropriate identity checks carried out.
If a person is known to abscond, and is at risk of running onto busy roads, it may be in the best interests of the individual to install security locks on doors.
Taking a balanced approach
It’s important to acknowledge that we cannot, and indeed, should not, remove all potential hazards. The actions we take should reflect a balanced, sensible approach to risk, and should be judged on whether they are reasonable and proportionate. For example, it would be impossible to remove items like scissors from a school, as this would limit the activities available to pupils. Similarly, if we are supporting people in residential settings, we would not be able to confiscate all potentially dangerous utensils and appliances from a shared kitchen, as this would make mealtimes impossible!
Fear of the very worst-case scenario should not drive our decision making; it should be as evidence based as possible. While the possibility of increased risk is there, we need to balance that with the opportunity to expose individuals to a rich and fulfilling life, where they are empowered to manage those risks for themselves.
Fostering emotional safety
A safe environment goes beyond just thinking about the practical, physical hazards. Children, young people, and adults have the right to feel that their setting provides emotional security and stability, especially in times of crisis.
Signs that an individual might be struggling emotionally to cope with their environment can include crying, screaming, covering their ears, withdrawing, pacing, or rocking. Taking the time to uncover an individual’s triggers can help us understand what is driving the behaviour, and prompt us to explore ways to reduce potential stress and anxiety.
For those with sensory needs, we might consider how light, noise, and overcrowding are contributing to their distress, and take steps to address these:
- Bright, flashing or fluorescent lights can be overwhelming, contribute to fatigue, and shorten attention spans, so removing these can be beneficial.
- Too much furniture in one place can make an individual feel closed in and trapped, so it’s worth reviewing which pieces are essential, and which could be moved away.
- Well-organised, clutter-free spaces can reinforce structure and routine for individuals, help to stabilise their emotions, and offer a sense of security and tranquillity.
- Designated calm spaces or quiet areas can provide much-needed respite when an individual is feeling emotionally overwhelmed. Rooms with sensory equipment, cushions, and beanbags can all help the individual to re-regulate and recover in peace and quiet.
- If sound is making it difficult for people to interact and focus, we can try to minimise background noise, and provide ear defenders for those who require them.
Prioritising bonds built on trust
Alongside modifying physical spaces as a way to foster emotional safety, we need to forge strong relationships built on trust with the individuals we care for, as well as with our colleagues, so that everyone feels understood and accepted in our settings.
When people don’t feel safe, they cannot thrive, so by offering calm, comforting reassurance, actively listening without blame, judgement or criticism, taking time to carry out emotional ‘check-ins’, and valuing individuals for who they are, we can demonstrate that our environments are safe, secure and inclusive for all.
