Further to the demands that we made to senior Probation management before the turn of the year, that urgent action needs to be taken to demonstrate that staff concerns about their safety at work are being taken seriously, Napo and our sister unions are now engaged in weekly discussions about a number of pilot schemes that are to be trialled in seven locations.
We have insisted that important information such as equality impact assessments and comprehensive details of the schemes be consulted upon before the commencement of the trials in April. We have also made it clear that timely and adequate consultation takes place locally with the unions before the trials are commenced.
So far, we know that the pilot schemes will include Body Worn Cameras (BWC) in Unpaid Work, the installation of lockers in reception areas, Security Arches similar to those used in the Court Service, metal ‘wand’ detectors and the deployment of trained security staff in reception areas. Despite the rumours that have developed due to the initial lack of clarity about ‘SPEAR’ personal safety training, we have established that this trial, within a probation setting will be of a non-operational type, involving de-escalation, diffusion of conflict and exit strategies that will not require a physical response by staff as is the case in a different version of ‘SPEAR’ as deployed in HM Prison establishments.
While Napo welcomes this overdue movement by management, we are yet to be convinced that all the above ideas will be suitable for introduction into every Probation location. For example, we already have serious misgivings about the use of BWC in terms of its effectiveness and it possibly becoming another trigger point for conflict. The aim of these trials is to identify suitable measures that, when implemented, will seriously reduce the risk to staff especially in respect of the ingress of weapons into the probation estate.
Our objective throughout all the levels of engagement with local, regional and national management, is to foster a collaborative approach to Health and Safety so that we can see the necessary measures put in place that will restore the confidence of staff that their safety is a priority.
We expect that news about the intended locations and the type of initiative in each of them, will follow within the next week. We will be publishing further updates for our members at the earliest opportunity.