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Keeping
Safe at Work
INTRODUCTION
Manitoba communities are, on the whole, safe places in which to live and
work. In any community, however, it’s wise to follow basic rules of safety and security -- things like locking your car when you leave it
unattended in a parking lot. The same applies to the workplace.
No matter where you work, or what type of work you do, you can enhance
your safety by increasing your awareness of potentially threatening situations and
planning responses to them. Employers can introduce basic safety
devices and train staff in safety awareness. Small business owners can work together to
set up safety programs. This is of special concern to women, who are overall more likely
to be the target of a violent crime.
This booklet provides some basic tips about keeping safe at work --
please read them and use whatever is applicable to your situation. And remember: awareness
and prevention are the keys to increasing personal safety in
the workplace.
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WORKPLACE
ACTION
ALONE AND ALERT
PLAN AHEAD
- Ask about the risk assessment plan at your workplace.
- Plan emergency exits. Know about safe places and the location of pay
phones.
- Try to imagine appropriate responses to various situations and decide ahead of time how you will respond.
- If your work takes you to new or different settings, be alert and make
mental notes of your surroundings when you arrive. The first time you go into a new
setting, or if you are in a place where you feel uneasy, phone your own workplace when you
arrive and again before you leave.
- When you enter an office or meeting place alone, be aware of your
surroundings.
- If you must meet new work contacts out of the workplace, choose a public
place. Keep personal information private.
- Avoid having new work contacts walk you to the car or escort you to your
home or hotel room.
- When entering an elevator, stand next to the controls. Wait for the next
elevator if you feel uneasy about any of the occupants. If someone makes you feel
uncomfortable, push the button for the next floor or push the alarm and all buttons
(except stop).
- Trust your instincts. If
someone you work with makes you uncomfortable, discuss the situation with a co-worker you
trust. Plan your response to potential problems.
BE AWARE
- Know staff in other stores, offices and businesses. Be aware of their
schedules.
- If you are suspicious of people hanging around or strange phone calls,
notify the police and staff in neighbouring stores. Try to get a description of the person
and the car (if there is one).
- Be assertive and confident.
Look at and greet customers.
- If you feel uncomfortable after someone enters, trust your instincts.
Look directly at the person. Make it clear you are in charge and cannot be intimidated.
Phone for help.
- Make sure that back doors or secondary doors are locked.
- Check all lighting before it gets dark.
IF YOU ARE WORKING LATE
- Let security or a friend know, and tell them when you expect to leave.
- While another co-worker is present, check
that all doors are locked and that washrooms and storage rooms are empty.
- If you suspect someone is lurking outside, call police or security
officers.
- If you enter a washroom and suspect someone is lurking in there,
don’t call out. Back out, go to a safe area with a lockable door and phone for help.
(Plan ahead for safe places.)
CHALLENGING STRANGERS IN THE WORKPLACE
- If you are alone or working late and you encounter someone unfamiliar,
indicate that you are not alone. Say, “My supervisor will be right here and will be
able to help you.”
- Use assertive, but respectful, language.
KEEP PERSONAL INFORMATION PRIVATE
- Avoid discussing where you live, after-work plans, or vacation plans in
front of, or with, customers or anyone who makes you feel uncomfortable.
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GETTING
TO WORK
1. RIDING THE BUS/TRANSIT SYSTEM
- Carry a schedule. After dark, arrive at the stop just before the transit
vehicle is due.
- On the bus, sit near others. Tell the driver if you are being bothered.
- Use the Request Stop service available on some bus routes. Call your
local transit authority for more information on this service.
2. DRIVING
- Do not identify your keys with car plate numbers or name and address.
- Carry a personal safety alarm on your key chain. It will help attract
attention if you are attacked.
- Keep your car in good repair. The gas tank should be at least half full
and the tires in reliable condition at all times.
- Park in well-lit spaces. Walk with others after dark.
- If you park in an underground parkade, make sure you are near the
attendant or an exit.
Always lock your car, when it’s parked and when you’re driving
it.
- Have your key ready and check inside the car to be sure no one is hiding
there.
- Don’t open your car window more than one inch to speak to someone
approaching your car. Drive away if you feel uncomfortable.
- If you suspect another car is following yours, do not go home. Drive to a
service, police, fire station, or brightly lit convenience store, and stay in your car.
Honk the horn in short repeated blasts until someone comes out to help you.
3. IF YOUR CAR BREAKS DOWN
- Carry a “Help! Call Police” sign in your vehicle emergency kit,
and use it in an emergency. Do not raise the hood of your car but
do activate your emergency flashers to alert other drivers that you
are stationary and require assistance.
- Stay in the car with windows closed and doors locked.
- Open the window only one inch to speak to anyone other than the police.
- Consider obtaining a cellular phone to keep in your car for emergency
use. Pre-program the phone to a local emergency number.
4. WALKING
- Wear comfortable shoes, such as runners.
- If you are using a stairwell, be sure it is well-lit and you can quickly
exit to a safe place.
- Stay on well-lit streets, in the centre of the sidewalk, away from
bushes, doorways and parked cars, anywhere an attacker could hide. Cross the road if
necessary.
- If you think someone is following you, turn around and check. Let them know you are aware of their presence. Do not go
to your car or your house. Cross the street and go to a safe place, such as a store or
restaurant.
5. HOTEL SAFETY
- Make sure your reservations are guaranteed if you’re arriving late.
- Purchase a travel lock or an alarm/motion detector for hotel room doors.
These items are available from locksmiths.
- Use a business card (don’t
say your name out loud) or first initials when you check
in.
- Leave instructions not to give out your room number or your name.
- Get a room on an upper floor close to the elevator. Make sure you are
away from stairwells and fire stairs/exits.
- Do not enter the room if you suspect someone is in it, if you are being followed or if someone is lingering near your door.
- Check your room phone to ensure it is working properly. If you are in a
motel, try to get a room next to the office or the manager’s unit. Keep all windows
locked.
- If the hotel issues you an electronic access card
for the room – upon turning the card in at the end of your stay,
be sure to ask the desk clerk to delete your personal information
from the card before you leave
6. IF YOU ARE FLYING
- Check for early and late shuttle bus service.
- Leave only your car key with parking lot attendants.
- Do not accept rides from people you have met on the airplane. Be cautious
about sharing taxis.
- If you are renting a car at your destination during the winter, take a
survival kit for winter driving. It should include a scraper, candles, warm clothes and
candy for quick energy.
7. LEAVE CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS /
INFORMATION AT YOUR WORKPLACE
- Tell staff, or friends/family members if you work alone, where you are
going and when you expect to arrive and leave. Include dates you will be in various
locations.
- Establish a pre-arranged call-in procedure upon
arrival and departure. Leave emergency contact numbers.
- Make sure anyone attending to your business, mail or phone machine does
not give out information about your absence or travel plans.
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WHAT
EMPLOYERS CAN DO
- Employers can -- and must -- discuss a safety plan with employees.
Manitoba has a Workers Working Alone Regulation (105/88 R of the Workplace Safety and
Health Act). It states in part:
Where a worker is
working alone under circumstances which may result in injury, health impairment,
victimization through criminal violence or other adverse conditions, the employer shall
provide and implement a plan as a means of ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable,
the safety, health and welfare of that worker from risks arising out of, or in connection
with, activities in that workplace.
“Working alone” is defined as follows:
In this regulation, “working alone” means the
performance of any work function by a worker who
(a) is the only worker for the employer at that workplace at any time, and
(b) is not directly supervised by his or her employer, or another person designated as a
supervisor by his or her employer, at any time.
The key concepts contained in the Regulation for Workers Working Alone
are:
- the necessity of assessing all working alone situations to determine
the conditions or circumstances which may result in misfortune to the workers working
alone and attempt to reduce the probability of such misfortune; and
- the provision of a means of securing assistance for workers working
alone in the event of injury or other misfortune.
- Working alone does not necessarily mean an individual is the only
employee on the premises; for example, it may include a situation where an individual
works at an isolated worksite within a large, well-populated office building. For more
information about this Regulation, contact Manitoba Labour, Workplace Safety and Health
Division, at (204) 945-6848.
INSTALL EXTRA PHONES AND ALARM
SYSTEMS
- Pre-program phones to 911 or the local police emergency number.
- Install phones in isolated areas such as storage rooms.
- Have an alarm installed that rings in the workplace and in a neighbouring
business or household.
- Attackers expect alarm buttons to be at the desk. Place them elsewhere, where staff can reach them and
customers cannot set them off accidentally.
- Install several alarm buttons. Put them by doors, store rooms and
coolers.
INCREASE THE VISIBILITY IN WORK AREAS
- Install good outside lighting and train staff to check lights before
dusk.
- Ensure the service desk is well-lit and
visible through windows.
- Make sure windows are not obscured and passers-by can see in.
- Make sure there is a clear exit route from the service desk to the door.
SHARE THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR
AWARENESS
- Set up a business watch or mail watch program with neighbouring
businesses.
- Share information with co-workers and neighbouring businesses whenever
suspicious or criminal incidents occur.
- Develop a buddy system for employees to get to bus stops or their cars
after work.
CRIME PREVENTION THROUGH
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
Through consultation with the RCMP or Winnipeg Police Service, some
retail businesses have greatly reduced incidents
of robbery, shoplifting and other crimes that are a potential threat to the personal
safety of staff and customers. Often, a few simple, low-cost changes in physical layout
and operating procedures are all that is required to increase safety in the workplace.
Manitoba's 7-Eleven stores are among the leaders in promoting a safer work environment. Working with police, the company
considered, and subsequently introduced, a number of changes in 7-Eleven stores that have
significantly reduced the incidence of crime. In many cases these changes, while not
extensive or costly, greatly increased the staff's ability to monitor their environment
and improve their feeling of safety in the workplace.
Elements of 7-Eleven’s proactive
approach to safety include the following:
- maintaining small amounts of cash on the premises at all times and making
potential thieves aware of this with prominently displayed signs;
- raising the height of sales counters;
- installing video monitors and surveillance cameras in all stores, as well
as providing personal security alarms (worn around the neck) for all staff.
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- Never confront the robber.
- Do not argue, fight, chase, or resist the robber in any way. This will
only make the robber nervous.
- Co-operate with the robber.
- Let the robber know you want to do what you are ordered to do.
- Remember, the robber may be even more nervous than you are.
- Respond only when spoken to by the robber.
- Keep conversation as brief as possible.
- Use “yes” responses rather than “no”; shake your head
up and down indicating agreement rather than disagreement.
- Inform the robber ahead of time of any possible
surprises, for example:
- the door is about to open;
- someone is expected to come in;
- someone is in the back room or somewhere else on the premises.
- Help the robbery go as smoothly and quickly as
possible.
- Be concerned about the safety of other staff and customers. Remember:
robbers seldom hurt people who co-operate with them.
BASIC PREVENTION
Your risk of attack increases if you appear to be unaware of what’s
going on around you. Learn to be aware and recognize risk. Increase your personal
awareness everywhere.
- Be observant and aware of
your surroundings. Walk with a purpose. Keep your head up, look around and directly at
people to assess them. Make eye contact, but don’t stare.
- Trust your feelings when
you feel something just isn’t right.
- Be alert. Digging in a
purse, wearing head-phones or struggling with a heavy briefcase, luggage or awkward
clothing reduces your ability to be alert and thus prepared.
- Have your keys ready. As
you approach your car or door, have the right key positioned to open the lock immediately.
- Report any suspicious incidents
to employers or police.
- When you are out alone, you
may also wish to consider carrying a personal safety alarm on your key ring, pinned to
your clothing or worn around your neck.
TAKING ACTION AGAINST A PERSONAL
ATTACK
Your most important defence tools are awareness and action. Don't
Freeze. Act.
- If you are grabbed, don’t freeze. Don’t panic. Try to get
attention. Yell loudly and repeatedly. Try shouting words like FIRE, HELP, NO and STOP.
Blow a whistle, push a personal safety alarm, bang on something noisy. Be loud and
persistent.
- If anyone is nearby, give them instructions
to help you. Single out someone and send him or her for help - “You, in the red
jacket, call the police.” This will encourage bystanders to get help when they may
not know what action to take.
- If you decide to fight back,
remember there are many effective ways if responding to each type of attack. Prepare yourself to fight back, do whatever feels right to
you. Try to imagine yourself responding successfully to different types of attack
situations. Practise taking deep breaths to keep calm. Self-defense courses can teach you
valuable skills and help you learn about vulnerable points on the body, but the best
defence is to be vigilant and ready to respond.
- Only you can decide how to respond to a personal attack and how to
respond if the attacker has a weapon. Use whatever force you feel is necessary to escape.
Be ready to take action and get away.
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For more information, contact:
Your local police, RCMP detachment or crime prevention
association. They offer information programs and brochures for a variety
of personal safety situations.
- Manitoba Workplace Safety & Health, phone (204) 945-6848. They have comprehensive
information about the Manitoba Regulation 105/88 R Respecting Workers Working Alone.
- Your local Business Watch Association. These organizations exist in many communities.
Your local chamber of commerce may be of assistance.
Our thanks to the British Columbia Ministry of Women’s Equality and Ministry of
Small Business, Tourism & Culture
The Manitoba Women’s Directorate gratefully acknowledges the invaluable
assistance of:
Manitoba Justice Crime Prevention
7-Eleven Stores
Winnipeg Police Service
RCMP
City of Brandon Police Department
East St. Paul Police Department
Manitoba Workplace Safety & Health
Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba
CIBC
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