Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin has launched a training initiative to enable workers and businesses to safeguard the vulnerable and prevent violence against women.
Details
Following a successful trial in December, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media is launching a new series of vulnerability training courses for the nighttime sector, which starts next week.
The aim of these courses aim to create a safer environment for all, safeguarding the vulnerable and preventing violence against women.
These courses have been developed in partnership with the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA), the Vintners' Federation of Ireland (VFI), the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI), the County and City Management Association, and Give Us the Night, and with the support of both the Department of Justice and An Garda Síochána.
The Night-Time Economy Taskforce Report, which was published in September of last year, highlighted the issue of public safety and suggested ways that current structures could support and enhance safety measures.
The key objective of this course is to enable workers and businesses in the nighttime economy sectors to identify issues regarding safeguarding and vulnerability management and violence against women. It will provide employees with an enhanced understanding of their responsibilities and duty of care to vulnerable people and train them on actions that must be taken to reduce identified risk. A series of policy templates in the areas such as incident and vulnerability management will also be made available for businesses to download and use.
This course will benefit all individuals engaging and working in the nighttime economy by ensuring customer safety, and it will demonstrate that venues or businesses have a clear commitment to ensuring customer safety, which in turn gives more confidence to individuals socialising at night by providing a safe environment in which to do so.
The course will cover the following topics during a two hour webinar via Zoom:
- the main types of vulnerability found in the nighttime economy sector;
- safeguarding;
- adults and children at risk of harm;
- violence against women and women's safety;
- drink spiking;
- responsibilities and duty of care;
- how to respond to the main types of vulnerability and when to call emergency services and report to local authorities;
- performing a dynamic risk assessment;
- and policies and practices to promote a safe environment for all.
This training is open to any individual, business or venue operating or working in the nighttime economy.
There are six training sessions available for registration, and this initiative aims to provide training to more than 600 businesses and staff working and engaging in the nighttime economy nationwide. Those that want to participate can register for the training at Surveymonkey.com/r/AllIrelandVulnerabilityTraining.
Statements By Minister Martin
Minister Martin stated, "The need to provide a safe environment for all those who work and socialise in our towns and cities is so important and with that in mind, my department is funding a series of vulnerability training courses for the nighttime economy sector.
"I want to encourage all businesses, such as pubs, nightclubs, restaurants and all those engaged in the nighttime economy to sign up and take part in this vulnerability training initiative funded by my department."
Minister Martin said, "I want to assist businesses in the nighttime economy to support and protect their staff and customers by identifying issues before they arise and also to have clear policies and procedures in place for when incidents occur."
Minister Martin also said, "The safety of women and all customers engaging in the nighttime economy needs to be prioritised. People should feel safe when they are out socialising at night without the fear of violence or harassment and that's why it is important that staff are trained, so they can provide assistance for anyone who finds themselves in a difficult or intimidating situation."
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