Over the last few weeks, I’ve been thinking about the challenges faced by immigration escort officers.
Having spent more than 30 years working in custodial environments, I’ve seen first-hand just how quickly routine situations can change. Whether it’s inside a prison, a secure vehicle or an aircraft, the people working on the front line are often making difficult decisions in confined spaces and under significant pressure.
When incidents happen, we naturally focus on what staff did, whether the techniques used were appropriate and what lessons can be learned.
Those conversations are important.
But I sometimes wonder whether we ask another equally important question often enough.
Could we have done more to protect the member of staff before the incident ever happened?
Why Prevention Should Come Before Intervention
Throughout my career, one principle has remained constant.
Good communication, professionalism and de-escalation will always be the first line of defence. They are skills that every organisation should continue to invest in.
However, we also must recognise that not every incident can be talked down.
When an escort officer is working in the confined space of a secure vehicle, a holding room or on board an aircraft, there are occasions when they simply cannot step away. If someone lashes out or attempts to bite, there is very little time to react.
One injury that continues to concern me is biting to the neck.
It’s an injury that can have both physical and psychological consequences, yet it often receives less attention than other forms of workplace violence.
That doesn’t mean we should accept it as part of the job.
Quite the opposite.
Over the years we’ve seen organisations embrace body armour, cut-resistant PPE and other protective equipment because they reduce risk without changing the professionalism of the person wearing it.
Perhaps it’s time to think about neck protection in the same way.
Not because we expect incidents to happen.
But because we have a responsibility to protect the people who respond when they do.
Organisations rightly invest significant time and resources in training, welfare and safer systems of work.
Preventative PPE isn’t an alternative to those things.
It’s another layer of protection that can help staff go home safely at the end of every shift.
I’d be genuinely interested to hear the views of colleagues working in immigration escorting, prisons, policing and other custodial settings.
How are you approaching the challenge of protecting your frontline teams, and do you think preventative PPE has a greater role to play in the future?
Any thoughts would be greatly received.
About the Author
Mike Bird, Director of Corporate Relations at PPSS Group
With over 35 years’ experience in custodial, security, and care settings, Mike brings extensive expertise in handling highly hostile, challenging, and complex individuals. After 20 years in the prison service, specialising in the Use of Force and serving as a National Instructor at the National Tactical Response Group (NTRG), Mike has since provided training and consultancy services to police and prison services in the UK, Africa, Asia and Europe.