This free online health and safety course explains how to use restraints responsibly and legally in the workplace.

This health and safety course discusses the meaning of ‘restraint’ and lays out its purpose in various settings, including healthcare facilities and prisons. We first cover the basics of restraint practices and outline the relevant legal and ethical considerations. We describe the physical and psychological impact of restraints on individuals and establish the importance of a trauma-informed approach. The course then explores the fundamental principles of different behavioural theories and models put forward by psychologists to explain the causes of challenging behaviour, functional analysis of behaviour and positive behaviour support.

Our following section is related to risk assessment and management and explains how to perform various types of risk assessment, create effective care plans and implement risk management measures. Risk assessment and management are crucial to reducing the use of restraint and ensuring safety and wellbeing for everyone involved. Ensuring the appropriate use of restraint requires excellent communication skills. With this in mind, we help you to develop active listening and verbal communication skills. We show you how to recognise and respond appropriately to non-verbal cues from individuals in restraint situations.

This health and safety course then describes post-incident management. We discuss the importance of debriefing and providing support for staff. We explain to record instances of restraint by implementing reporting and documentation practices. Such measures help you to prevent and manage the long-term negative impacts of restraint. Our final section discusses essential components of safeguarding vulnerable populations and explains how to recognise and address abuse and neglect, navigate relevant policies and meet your responsibilities by promoting information sharing, responding to disclosure and reporting concerns. Restraints can play an important role in minimising risk in various contexts so take this restraint awareness course to add this useful skill to your professional portfolio.