The Importance of a Medical Risk Assessment in Physical Skills Training

Physical skills training encompasses a wide and varied range of activities, from fitness and sports to vocational and recreational pursuits and while these activities offer numerous benefits, they also carry inherent risks to the participants health, safety and wellbeing. This is why conducting a comprehensive medical risk assessment before an individual engages in physical skills training is of paramount importance. … Read more

Defining Reasonable Force – Balancing Control and Injury Prevention

The concept of reasonable force is a fundamental principle in legal frameworks worldwide, governing the permissible level of force individuals can use in various situations. However, the term “reasonable” is inherently subjective, making it difficult to create a universally applicable definition. This article looks into the complexities of defining reasonable force and highlights the need to get balance right between … Read more

Flight Attendant Chased Home by Irate Passenger that yelled ‘f*** your Airline’

An Airline flight attendant posted a tearful video on TikTok describing how an unruly passenger chased her out of the airport parking lot and followed her home.  The safety and well-being of employees is of paramount importance and a duty that all employers must address. Workplace violence tends to be far more prevalent in occupations that involve prolonged interaction with … Read more

The Challenges in Moving a Restrained Person Up or Down a Flight of Stairs

Moving individuals up or downstairs under restraint poses numerous challenges for caregivers, healthcare staff and other professionals. This task falls under manual handling activities, requiring careful consideration and risk assessments to ensure the safety and well-being of both the person being moved and the staff involved. ‘slips, trips and falls are the most common cause of injuries at work’. In … Read more

The Use of Neck Restraints in Restraint Techniques: An Argument for and Against

Introduction: The recent instruction by the Public Safety Minister to ban the use of neck restraints by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has sparked a debate on the effectiveness and safety of such techniques. The RCMP’s Management Advisory Board has stated that neck restraints can be justified as a less lethal alternative to lethal force in some cases. Read … Read more

Has Aggression towards Reception and Healthcare Staff become Routine?

Research studies across 5 countries including the UK, show that Aggression towards GP receptionists is a ‘frequent and routine’ occurrence. Fact sheets covering the period 2010 to 2018 recorded an increase in reported incidents of aggression from 6 per 10,000 staff to 10+ per 10,000 staff. How much more would these figures have increased by if staff felt more empowered … Read more

Are You Sleepwalking Your Way into a Complete Disaster?

There are many training providers who will not deliver training which they insist falls outside of their approved training course.  So rather than receiving training which meets your needs, you are being presented with a fixed system of training which you are expected to make your needs and concerns fit their training programme.

How many training providers are there claiming to be Home Office or Regulatory Body Approved or even insisting that it is mandatory that you must receive training using their systems, processes and techniques. 

Therefore, according to those training providers, any training you receive not delivered through them will not be recognised; implying the training you received is not be approved.

There are too many to count, training programmes out there and so how do you know which Training Provider one is the right one for you?

Is the Training You Are Booking Actually Fit for Purpose?

A training needs analysis is a process whereby the gap between the actual and desired knowledge, skills and comprehension required in a job are identified.

Research has shown that if we teach someone a complicated system of restraint; a system constructed from a wide range of skills involving lots of complicated techniques, then they are building failure into your system of learning.

So…Is the Training You’re Receiving Legally Accurate?

If the advice you receive is legally wrong and especially if that wrong advice leads to harm being caused, may me be open to a legal challenge if it proven that the harm could have been prevented if legally accurate advice had been given in the first instance.

How can You Resolve This?

By finding a training provider who can adapt their training programme to meet your needs.

Below is a previous blog post on this same issue

Will Certain Certification or Accreditation Protect Me? 

Will having certain ‘certification’ or ‘accreditation’ protect an organisation if they commission training and something goes wrong because the training doesn’t meet the specific needs and risks of the organisation? 

Read more

Can we use techniques not taught during training?

I recently posted an article on Linked about an article which appeared in the Guardian ‘North Wales Police Officer punching incident’. Well, the post attracted over 6,000 views with lots of very balanced and descriptive comments. Some challenging whilst others supported the video clip showing the officer punching someone whilst on the ground. Her (now His) Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies … Read more

People Centred BTEC Restraint Trainer Courses – September 2023

Our upcoming BTEC Restraint Trainer Award course is designed to include everyone from a range of different backgrounds who have a passion and drive to teach people how to remain safe, and support others. Within the course programme we ensure that you have the comprehension of new concepts whilst learning to become more aware of the different attitudes, beliefs and … Read more

Are the Use of Pain Compliance Holds Illegal?

I was recently contacted about the fact that a pain compliance technique was being taught during a training cause. The point from the caller was that they felt that the technique should not have been taught because they are not legal and the banned.  Particularly for staff not employed in law enforcement or security roles! Whilst the philosophy behind any … Read more