On 28 July 1986, 25-year-old estate agent Suzy Lamplugh left her London office to attend an appointment and never returned. Her disappearance led her parents, Diana and Paul Lamplugh, to establish the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.
Agency owners and managers should use the anniversary to review risk assessments, test emergency arrangements, and check that every member of staff knows what to do when a situation changes. Personal safety must be treated as a routine business responsibility, not an issue considered only after an incident.
Lone working is part of everyday agency life
Sales, lettings, commercial, auction and inventory professionals may conduct viewings, valuations and inspections alone, travel between appointments or remain in a branch without colleagues nearby.
Most appointments take place without incident, but the absence of immediate support can leave a worker more vulnerable if something goes wrong. The risks extend beyond violence and aggression to include accidents, medical emergencies, unsafe buildings, work-related driving, stress, isolation, stalking and harassment.
Propertymark training and support
Our refreshed personal safety and lone working guidance is specifically tailored to the situations agents commonly encounter in their working lives, giving information, advice and resources to help individuals and businesses protect themselves and their colleagues.
Personal safety and lone working: guidance for property agents
Working alone is common across the property sector. Agents may conduct viewings, valuations and inspections, visit people in their homes, travel between appointments, work remotely or remain in an office without colleagues nearby. Most appointments pass without incident, but lone workers may have nobody close at hand if something goes wrong. A clear policy, suitable training, and reliable ways to raise the alarm can reduce the risks and help workers respond confidently when circumstances change.
Our eLearning courses provide an easy, convenient way to access training online. Learn the principles of good practice when working alone, strategies to ensure your personal safety both in and out of work, and how to manage stress with our range of self-study modules.
eLearning: Lone worker safety
If your work requires you to visit domestic housing, void properties or business units alone, this course provides an outline of health and safety management law in relation to lone workers.
eLearning: Personal safety training
Personal safety is a person's right to go about their everyday life free from the threat or fear of psychological, emotional, and physical harm from others.
eLearning: Managing your personal stress
This course explores work-related stress, what causes it and the coping strategies you can employ to help manage it.
Make safety part of workplace culture
Employers should assess the work, the location, the people involved, and the circumstances in which an appointment will take place. Staff should be involved in developing and reviewing procedures because they understand the situations they encounter.
The assessment should define when an activity can be carried out alone and when another person, additional supervision or a different approach is needed. Relevant factors could include previous threats, an existing dispute, isolated locations, poor mobile coverage, out-of-hours appointments, unexpected attendees, or known property hazards.
Clear procedures are only effective when workers understand and can use them. Training should cover areas such as recognising warning signs, dynamically reassessing changing circumstances, conflict management, leaving safely, raising an alarm and reporting incidents or near misses. Workers must also know that they can end or rearrange an appointment if they reasonably believe it is unsafe.
Check-in systems need a clear response
Businesses should have a reliable method of recording where lone workers are, who they are meeting and when they are expected to check in. Crucially, the procedure must explain what happens if contact is missed or an alarm is raised.
Equipment and emergency procedures should be tested regularly, with alternative arrangements available if a device fails or there is no signal.
Report concerns and support affected staff
It must be straightforward for staff to report violence, threats, stalking, harassment and near misses. Reports should lead to action, including checking the worker’s wellbeing, preserving evidence where appropriate and reviewing whether existing controls remain effective.
The psychological effects of an incident may continue after the immediate danger has passed. Employers should maintain contact and provide suitable practical and wellbeing support.
Suzy Lamplugh’s plight remains something that will forever resonate within the housing sector, and the tireless dedication of her parents over many years and the ongoing work of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust commands the utmost respect and empathy.
Suzy’s disappearance shocked the nation and remains an event that, to this day, weighs heavily on the minds of those working within property.
Raising awareness and tackling issues surrounding lone working and harassment extends far beyond the boundaries of the property sector and must remain at the forefront of people’s minds. It is a profoundly important issue that must never be overlooked or forgotten, and one that everyone has a collective responsibility to understand.
