A job visiting people's homes can bring the risk of attack, reports Sylvia Thompson

Knife attacks. Malicious damage to cars. Daily verbal abuse. The stuff of gangland warfare or serious domestic disputes? Yes, probably, but these scenarios are also a reality for many people whose jobs take them into others' homes every working day.

The risk has become so great for environmental-health officers, community-welfare officers and carpenters, plumbers and plasterers working for local authorities that they have been given special training to avoid problems.

The dangers are so real that none of the people I spoke with for this article would allow me to use the names of those who have had disturbing experiences. Take the housing liaison officer who was chased along the balcony of a flat complex by an elderly man wielding a hammer. Or the female community-development worker who was introduced to an older lady's friend - "her kitchen knife". Or the plumber who came back to a flat after collecting a tool only to find its occupant sitting on the sink he had just installed, shooting up. Or the carpenters called out in the middle of the night to replace a front door following a domestic dispute. When they arrived they were confronted by a man with a gun. A carefully timed call to the Garda allowed them to complete the task under the watchful eye of the gardaí.

The potential for danger has also prompted GPs in some areas to minimise visiting patients at home out of hours. "House calls are almost a thing of the past. I only do house calls to the housebound elderly and terminally ill," says Bill Fegan, a north Dublin GP. "We have filtered out the risk of going to inner-city flat complexes by using deputising services."

The doctors who work for the deputising services usually travel with a driver, who parks as close as possible to the house the GP is visiting.

The car has radio contact with the service's base, and a mobile phone with quick-dial numbers is close to hand.

For those workers whose jobs involve enforcing the law, the situations can be particularly inflammable.

Martin Fitzpatrick, an environmental-health officer working with the South Western Area Health Board, which covers south Dublin and parts of Kildare and Wicklow, says: "The threat of physical or verbal abuse is a constant problem for us, because most people are not happy to see us. We are there to investigate noise control, air pollution, food safety and check out the standards of private rented accommodation.

"The vast majority of people are nice, rational, even-tempered people, but our staff are trained to recognise signs of difficulty, and they know how to deflate a problem and extract themselves quickly if necessary."

Remembering to park your car facing an exit, step back a couple of paces once you've knocked at a door, so you can assess the situation before entering, and make a mental note of whether you feel safe when you step from public view into the private home are just some of the precautions that staff take.

Once inside, environmental-health officers are advised to keep the other person in front of them at all times and never allow them to block their main exit.

"We have to have plan A, B, C and D so that we can vacate the place if necessary," says Fitzpatrick, "things like using quick-dial numbers on mobile phones so that someone can call you if necessary or saying you have to go back to the car to 'get a form' or something you've forgotten."

Environmental-health officers at the Eastern Regional Health Authority, of which the South Western Area Health Board is a part, were trained by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. The trust, which is holding its first conference in Dublin today, was set up by the parents of Suzy Lamplugh, an estate agent who disappeared while showing a client around an unoccupied house in London in 1986.

"We have learned through the Suzy Lamplugh training that if you are afraid you are already a victim, whereas if you face up to the risks you can learn to address them without encouraging aggression.

"We don't teach our staff self-defence or breakaway techniques, but we teach them to use their intellect. This is much more effective than karate holds."

Working Safely in Other People's Homes, a one-day conference on personal safety at work, begins at the Herbert Park Hotel in Ballsbridge, Dublin, at 9.15 a.m. today. The hotel's conference department is at 01-2314101. See also www.suzy lamplugh.org