I work from home and make sure that if I have any male clients that my husband (or dad) is at home to make sure I'm not alone. If somebody sounded "dodgy" then I would have a full diary. If I didn't have male clients then I would have only half the appointments as alot of men seem to come for swedish massage, because of aches and pains. It is a bit of a nuisance as I have to have the appointments in the evening and I'd like to do more when the kids are at school, but safety has to come first.

I do male clients at their homes or mine but if they sound dodgy on the phone I always cancel, I have a zero tolerance policy on flirting as my partner is very protective of me, each and every client beforehand will be told of the rules and regualtions.

I always try to take recommendations only and always give address and contact details of the client to someone else when working mobile. Check in before I go in. Always allow the client to lead the way and never walk in front of them - keep the exit closest to you. If I'm concerned about a new client then I get someone to call me and we use codewords. Have never had to use the "get me out of here" code yet, but you never know. Also if parking in allocated parking space, reverse in so you can drive out. How many of us can reverse at high speed? Park near lights etc.

I'm lucky to have a sister who's done loads of personal safety training with organisations like the Suzy Lampugh Trust and many others. She enforces my safety on me and without her input I'd probably walk into many a dogdy situation.

Also one other piece of advice she gave me was - if in doubt, leave your gear and get out. If it was that bad your safety is more important than your kit bag.

When I'm working lone lates in the salon, I always call before I start, leave and when I'm safe in my car to my boss or my hubbie. We've just been told we've got a flasher outside the back of our salon which I have to say is a bit worrying, but we are now changing our lone working policy as a result.

Sue