"Dealing with the death of a staff member – duty of care" by Pam McFarlane
Over the past two months, we have looked at how to deal with the death of a colleague and how we can manage this sad scenario with our staff, parents and children.
This article looks at how we, as managers and leaders, can recognise and support issues that impact our staff members.
Unfortunately, causes of death include vulnerability in the three areas below:
We are not counsellors, nor are we mental health professionals. We are not doctors, neither are we specialists in abuse. None of us have any control over accidents or the onset of severe illness. We may be able to offer support in terms of well-being in the workplace - but just how far do we go in terms of this support? What should our role be in safeguarding our staff members?
For the purposes of this article, we shall have a brief look at abuse and start by reading some data.
The Living without Abuse website (2023) states that domestic abuse:
In addition, approximately 400 people commit suicide each year who have attended hospital for domestic abuse injuries in the previous six months, 200 of these attend hospital on the day they go on to commit suicide.
The article goes on to say “Abusive relationships can lead to serious injuries, poor health and ultimately death.” It is highly likely then, that managers of early years settings will come across this issue in some form at some point.
Let’s go back to Mandy, the subject of the first two articles in this series. Mandy was killed by her partner in their home. This manager had an inkling that all was not well on the domestic front and had tried to open up a conversation with her over the previous few weeks, with no real success.
On the day of her death, Mandy had texted in to say she was on her way but then never arrived. The manager, worried about her, decided to pop into her home on the way to work to do a welfare check. Running late herself, she then decided to visit on her tea break.
When she arrived at Mandy’s home, the area was surrounded by police and she could not get near the house. She was told that Mandy had been killed approximately two to three hours earlier.
This scenario highlighted a number of concerns:
On reflection, the manager realised she had put herself in danger by undertaking a home welfare visit. Attending alone created an added layer of danger and personal harm.
She realised too, that she should have called the police in the first instance if she felt there may have been a problem.
The manager also had to work through feelings of guilt; had she done enough? Could she have prevented this? Talking this through with others helped put it into perspective.
She understood that she had to take a fresh look at duty of care.
Quite simply, duty of care is a moral or legal obligation to ensure the safety or well-being of others.
So, with the help of other senior team members, she drew up a policy and procedures that addressed safety measures around welfare checks and home visits. This also covered how to identify and support mental health needs and the needs of staff members who had ongoing or life-limiting illnesses.
Recommended by LinkedIn
Sometimes, it’s hard for people to share their concerns with others. An excellent tool that aids open communication between manager and staff members can be found on the Anna Freud website. It is called the Circle of Control, Influence and Concern. This can be used for issues within and without the workplace and is well worth a look.
One practical tool a manager can use when ensuring duty of care, is to undertake a ‘Wellness Walk’ with a staff member. This idea is practiced by the area lead of a leading Eastbourne nursery chain. When a manager identifies a staff member who needs a bit of extra support, the area lead takes that person aside, pops to the local shops for take away coffees or prepares these at the nursery. They then take a slow stroll outside of the setting and chat about things that are worrying them. It’s a safe place for sharing concerns and even if talking is difficult, just knowing that someone else cares can be of enormous comfort.
Robert Ingersoll (19th Century American orator) encapsulates this notion of care, saying simply, “We rise by lifting others.”
As leaders and managers, there are always circumstances beyond our control. We cannot be the answer to every problem. We have nurseries to run, children to educate and parents with whom we partner. So how can we be a practical support whilst remaining safe ourselves?
We can begin by building up our reservoir of knowledge.
Information is key to providing excellent duty of care. Managers can:
It is important to note that managers themselves need support and need to feel cared for. Talking to a coach or a senior manager will help them process these taxing times.
This series of articles on grief within early years has not been easy to write. However, grief and loss are part of the fabric of life, touching us all. Early years settings are not exempt from pain or sorrow and being able to talk about it is the starting point to healing for managers, staff members, children and parents.
Let’s keep talking.
Helpful links: