Personal safety for mobile professionals

[Gogodancer]

Can anyone tell me what measures you take to ensure your safety when visiting a new client for the first time?

 

[tracy1976]

Make sure you do a Consultation ,

 

[Mands]

Patch testing and public liability insurance

 

[emilywithers]

I always have 2 diaries...1 on me and another I leave at home so my partner or whoever else always knows where I am heading off to. I always let him know what time I should finish by, if im going to be late. If he doesn't hear from me 15 mins after I'm meant to finish he will give me a call but that's never been the case because I always make sure he knows what's going on. It's worth having something to say on the phone if something isn't right. I've never had to use it and hopefully never will but if I got a bad vibe I would use that and get out of there. He would know I'm also not happy so if I didn't call back saying I had left or I hadn't returned home or next appointment etc, he has the address of where I was last. It's also worth noting definitely take your gut instinct. I once had a client call me, message me all the time about an appointment and something didn't seem quite right...I did a bit of investigating and it wasn't a woman who they said they were but a man...I quickly cancelled that appointment and funnily enough, their accounts on Facebook etc were suddenly deleted. Just have your safety in mind, the majority of the time everything is absolutely fine [emoji2] x

 

[Cathi44]

If I get a booking through Facebook (which the majority are these days) or email, I do a bit of stalking on their profile (do they have a profile pic, personal pics etc, do they have plenty of FB friends, does it look like a proper account) If it's a phone booking it's pretty easy to suss if it's genuine or not straight away. I ask lots of questions. I also make sure I know exactly where the appointment is, the area etc, and if when I turn up I'm not happy, or have a bad gut feeling, I'll walk away (luckily only happened once...... a FB appointment made through her "son's" FB account, when I turned up a guy answered the door.... I asked if "Rita" could come to the door and he said she was "just in the kitchen, go on through" I was totally honest and explained that, for my security, I would need her to come to the door before I even considered coming in. He started sweating, still no sign of "Rita" so I left) As Emily says, if you can... let someone know where you're going, and ALWAYS go with your gut. Stay safe chica