Community Homes Must Be Homes — But They Must Also Be Safe Workplaces

Community-based support is built around an important principle: people should be able to live ordinary lives in ordinary homes, connected to their communities, with dignity, privacy and independence.

NUPE strongly supports that principle.

But there is another reality that cannot be ignored. For the support worker who comes through the door each day or night, that home is also a workplace.That means the physical environment must be capable of safely supporting both the people who live there and the workers providing their care.

NUPE has heard from members working in supported living about situations where the design and condition of homes can create very real risks. Members have described working in houses where there are confined areas, limited escape routes and situations where it is difficult or impossible to safely create distance when a person becomes distressed, escalates or displays challenging behaviour.

This matters.

De-escalation is often about space. A worker may need to step back, withdraw from an area, allow a person time to regulate, call for assistance or move other people away from an escalating situation.If the layout of the home prevents that, the environment itself can increase the risk of injury.

A narrow hallway, small bathroom, dead-end room, poorly positioned doorway or room with only one exit can turn a difficult situation into a dangerous one. Workers should not be placed in situations where they can be trapped simply because the home was never designed for the level of support being provided within it.

Bathrooms and Personal Care Areas Must Be Safe

Bathrooms are another area of concern.

Supporting another person to shower, use the toilet, transfer, dress or undertake personal care can involve close physical contact, wet floors, restricted space and manual handling.

NUPE has heard from members who have been assaulted while providing showering support in confined spaces.

We have also heard concerns about workers being expected to lift, transfer or support people without the right equipment being installed in the home. This creates risks for both the worker and the person receiving support.

Where mobility support is required, homes need to have the correct equipment available.

This can include hoists, shower chairs, grab rails, non-slip flooring, transfer equipment and enough space for staff to safely assist.

If a task requires two workers, the bathroom or bedroom must also be large enough for two workers to safely operate.

A home cannot be considered fit for purpose if staff are expected to undertake regular manual handling in spaces that make safe technique impossible.

A Fit-for-Purpose Home Is More Than a House With Enough Bedrooms

Community homes should not be selected simply because they are available, affordable or have the right number of bedrooms.The physical environment needs to match the needs of the people who live there.

That means considering mobility needs, medical needs, behavioural risks, group dynamics, staffing arrangements, emergency response and the design of the building itself.

NUPE has heard concerns about older buildings, broken facilities, unsafe wiring, lack of safe rooms, unsuitable staff spaces and shared facilities that are not appropriate for the level of support being provided.

These are not minor issues.

The environment is part of the overall safety system.

If the environment is unsafe, workers are being asked to manage risk with one hand tied behind their backs.

The Home Should Help Prevent an Emergency

Good health and safety is not just about responding after someone is hurt.

It is about designing risk out before an incident happens.

A well-designed community support home should make safe practice easier.

NUPE believes important features should include:

• layouts that avoid trapping workers in confined or dead-end spaces

• more than one practical exit route from higher-risk areas where possible

• enough room for workers to safely disengage and create distance

• bathrooms large enough to safely provide personal care

• appropriate hoists, shower chairs, transfer equipment and grab rails

• non-slip flooring and surfaces

• safe and hygienic staff facilities

• suitable staff toilet facilities

• safe electrical and building standards

• reliable emergency communication systems

• duress or alarm systems where required

• suitable spaces for medication and documentation

• adequate storage for equipment

• safe access for emergency services

• enough room for two-person support where required

• wheelchair-accessible areas with enough working space around the person

• good visibility and sight lines without unnecessarily compromising privacy

• appropriate external lighting and access

• safe kitchen layouts

• clear evacuation routes

• house-specific emergency plans

  
  

Importantly, none of this means turning community homes into institutions. That is not what NUPE is advocating for. A safe community home should still feel like a home.

It should be warm, comfortable, personal and supportive of independence.

Safety features can be incorporated thoughtfully and respectfully.

The aim should be to create homes that protect dignity while also protecting the people who work there.

Staffing and the Building Cannot Be Considered Separately

A safe building cannot compensate for unsafe staffing.

Likewise, good staffing cannot completely overcome a fundamentally unsafe building.

NUPE continues to hear concerns about workers being left alone with several service users, workers supporting people with high and complex needs without enough backup, and staffing levels that do not reflect the actual level of risk.

That is why the safety of community care needs to be looked at as a whole system.

The person receiving support.

The people they live with.

The house.

The staffing.

The equipment.

The training.

The emergency response.

The supervision.

The placement decision.

All of these things interact.

A safe staffing plan developed without considering the physical environment is incomplete.

A property assessment that does not consider the people who will live there is also incomplete.

A Home and a Workplace

There is an important balance that must be recognised.

For the person receiving support, the property is their home.

For the worker, it is their workplace.

Both of those realities matter.

People receiving support should be able to live in ordinary homes, enjoy privacy, dignity and independence, and have control over their lives.

At the same time, workers have a right to expect that the places they are required to work are safe.

Respecting somebody's home does not remove an employer's responsibility to manage foreseeable workplace risks.

And protecting workers does not mean removing the rights and dignity of the people receiving support.

NUPE believes both can be achieved.

The answer is better planning, better design, better consultation and proper investment.

NUPE Is Bringing Workers Together to Define the Ideal Community Home

NUPE is now bringing together delegates working across a number of community-based care organisations to undertake a practical exercise.

We want to answer a simple but important question:

What should the ideal community support home look like?

Our delegates work inside these homes every day.

They understand what happens when a bathroom is too small.

They understand what happens when there is no safe exit.

They understand what happens when a worker cannot create space during an escalating incident.

They understand what happens when a hoist cannot be positioned properly, when staff facilities are inadequate, when equipment is missing, or when the design of a house simply does not match the needs of the people living there.

That frontline experience is incredibly valuable.

NUPE wants to capture it.

Our delegates will work together to identify the features that should be considered when community homes are selected, leased, purchased, built or modified.

The goal is to develop a practical picture of what a safe, modern and genuinely fit-for-purpose community support home should contain.

This work will help inform NUPE's ongoing advocacy with employers, providers, funders and decision-makers.

Because people receiving support deserve good homes.

And the people who dedicate their working lives to supporting them deserve safe workplaces.

A community home can — and must — be both.