Support your staff

A safe workplace is vital for staff. Find out how to promote a safe and supportive work culture.

Ways to create a safe workplace

Helping to create a safe environment for your staff is just as important as creating it for your customers. Guiding your staff through training and the key principles of the safety charter is only one part of how you can you support your staff. 

Staff should feel able to report and voice concerns without feeling judged, knowing that they will be listened to and that any issues will be dealt with appropriately. 

Staff should also have an alternative route of getting further information and reporting concerns, such as a HR representative. 

Promote a safe and supportive work culture

It is crucial to recognise that it can be difficult for anyone to report sexual assault, harassment or hate crimes as victims often blame themselves, don't think it's 'serious enough' or fear being disbelieved.

Managers and colleagues should support each other to create an environment that encourages staff to speak up by identifying barriers which prevent this. 

Staff can also be discouraged from asking for change, from fear of discrimination or less preferential treatment. Signing the charter is a clear sign that your establishment values both staff and customers, and this should be communicated with the team.

Key steps to supporting your staff

1. Ask staff to feedback on when they do not feel safe. What roles do they feel unsafe in and what tasks they feel unsafe doing? Have they had any reports from customers on reoccurring issues?
2. Remind staff of the training available to them. See 'Train to respond' and 'Train to record'.
3. Remind them that reports will be taken seriously and explain the process to them.
4. Communicate with staff on the outcomes of report to encourage further reporting.
5. Make planning for safety a permanent item in your managers meeting. Keep up to date with reports and ways in which you can improve your business.
6. Remind staff that you have a zero-tolerance for harassment. This includes harassment between staff, between customers and staff, and between customers.
7. Draw a line between 'banter' and making inappropriate or harmful jokes that can make staff feel uncomfortable.
8. Identify barriers to reporting and ways to overcome these. This could be unfamiliarity with reporting routes, so you promote these to overcome that barrier.
9. Establish a whistleblowing policy or a discrete route to escalate. This ensures that power dynamics between colleagues do not interfere with the business’s safety commitments.