Health, Safety, and Duty of Care
Duty of care means taking reasonable steps to avoid foreseeable harm to patrons, staff, and others affected by your work. Candidates must understand the hierarchy of control and the employer's duty to provide safe systems of work, training, information, and equipment. Your own duty includes reporting hazards, using equipment as trained, and not working while unfit.
Key concepts: foreseeability (was the harm reasonably predictable?), welfare (water, rest, warmth, medical provision, and access to toilets for staff), and vulnerability (intoxicated, young, injured, or distressed people require additional care). Traps include assuming a patron's consent removes your duty, ignoring the welfare of colleagues working long shifts, and treating a medical emergency as a behavioural problem - always consider that a person who will not comply may be unwell.
Positional asphyxia is a critical risk: prolonged pressure on the back or chest, especially of an intoxicated or obese person, can kill. Any restraint must avoid pressure on the neck, chest, and abdomen, and the person must be monitored continuously and placed in a recovery position as soon as safe. Sudden death after restraint is a recognised risk requiring urgent medical help.
Rule of thumb: if a person in restraint becomes quiet, limp, or stops struggling, that is a medical emergency, not compliance.
Worked example: A patron restrained on the ground goes still. Staff immediately move him to a recovery position, check breathing, call an ambulance, and record timings.