Stay Safe!

How safe are you at work?

There are many potential risks involved when a self-employed person visits a client in their own home.

How to stay safe as a Civil Celebrant!

Personal safety is paramount when visiting clients in their space/home and it’s crucial to adhere to HSE guidelines (I discuss this in Question 3) to ensure the health and safety of yourself and your client at every stage of the process.

The personal risk when visiting a client in their home, particularly for funerals can be challenging and a celebrant needs to take precautions for their personal safety. Clients can be extremely emotional and have potential to be volatile because of the way people can be affected by grief and the risk of physical or emotional harm could be a possibility. The meeting is best done in their space to minimize inconvenience for them.

As a self-employed person there is no back up from and employer so it is important to do some research before going to the initial visit. Although there could be some urgency for the meeting you need to feel safe before committing to a time. Firstly, it’s good to be informed of the area where they live and how you would get there without asking the client for these details unless absolutely necessary. Most things can be found online. If you are using your own car you would need to check if there is parking nearby or if you are using public transport and check times of routes to and from the address.

A celebrant’s phone should be fully charged and details of where, when and how long you might be at a client’s house should be recorded and saved before attending the meeting. As detailed in Unit 1 a file should be kept on each client and the first visit should be the time this is done. This is good practice. It would also be a good idea to send some detail to a friend or family member before you go. Bearing in mind The Data Protection only the important details, for your own personal safety should be shared. The time you are going and how long you are expected to be gone should be sufficient if other details are left at home.

If a celebrant has any health issues or allergies this should also be taken into consideration. Anyone with a disability, pregnant, medical conditions such as diabetes, asthma or other serious conditions need to consider how they will access the property, Also in case of allergies; any animals which might be at the premises. It is up to the celebrant to consider this and not wait to comment, complain or experience serious incident at the time of a meeting.  Lastly if at any time there is a feeling of unease or safety is at risk it is better to leave as the commission is not worth any danger you may be in. If in doubt, make your excuses and leave.