TRANSCRIPT
Hi. I’m Fiona Blayney, the CEO and Founder of Real+.
Today, I’m here to talk with you over the next three sessions about that all important yet sometimes avoided topic of safety. There’s been heightened awareness around safety in the workplace by some very unfortunate circumstances of our colleagues in New Zealand in recent weeks.
It’s important not to be alarmed, but certainly to use this as a moment to be aware. In today’s session, we’re going to be talking about awareness back in the office, and what you can do to just start really identifying the risks and start to manage them and minimise them where possible.
So, let’s think about preparation before you head out to site. Now, whether you’re in sales or property management, we’re often going to properties that we have never been to before. There’s a vast array of information available on most properties through Googling the property itself and going online and checking out the location through street maps.
Of course, looking in your own internal databases: has anybody been to that premises before? And of course, thirdly, especially in the space of property management, who knows the tenant? Have they been on site before? Do you have any background information that would help you create a profile of that tenant and a risk assessment before you even step out the door?
Additionally, you’ll typically run a schedule. Why not have a morning huddle and allocate across the day letting everybody know where you’re going to be just as a verbal identification to keep everyone in check?
Sharing your calendar and making sure you put in place every single appointment you have across the cost of an hour, a day, a week, or a month is absolutely vital to making sure we know where you are, and not only where you are, but one time you went and when you’re meant to return.
Perhaps it’s time to get a buddy system in place in your office and especially for that last appointment of the day, how do I really know if Michelle made it home or not? Who does she check in with after she’s finished that final appointment?
When it comes to mobile phones, everyone, everyone needs to be carrying with them a backup battery and being acutely aware as to what that battery life is doing on that phone before they walk inside any property. And if in doubt, take another friend with you. Take that extra step to minimise that risk and support your own safety.
When you’re at open-for-inspections, it stands to reason that you’re taking the names and numbers of everyone in attendance. No doubt the increases in security will occur here over time and I’m sure we’ll start to want people’s driver’s licence. We may even want further details of them, getting them to pre-register through some of the inspection applications that are already available out there in the marketplace.
Most importantly if you are ever in doubt, don’t go out after dark. We all know that risk heightens when it’s after hours and dark ensues.
We’ll check to you again in the next episode.
