For staff in health and social care, mental health, supported living and similar settings, the risk that a person in their care may attempt self-harm by ligature is serious and real. Prevention depends on staff who can see their environment differently, recognise risk and act calmly and confidently.
Our online course, Ligature Awareness and Room Searching, is an awareness-level programme designed for those settings. It does not include cutting-down techniques — it focuses on recognition, prevention and safe response within the limits of a staff member’s role.
What the course covers
- Legal and health & safety duties relevant to ligature risk, and what they mean for your setting.
- What a ligature and a ligature point are — and the Ligature Risk Triangle: risk requires the means, the point and the opportunity. Remove any one of the three and the risk drops.
- The three ligature situations — full suspension, semi-suspension and self-tying — and how their risks differ.
- Recognising indicators of suicide and self-harm, and how and when to communicate concern.
- Room searching — practical, structured searching of an environment, and understanding how innocuous fixtures (door handles, bed frames, vents, radiators, pipework) can become ligature points.
- Assessment and response — dynamic risk assessment in the moment, and debrief and learning afterwards.
Who it is for
Staff in health and social care, mental health, supported living and related settings where a person in their care may be at risk of self-harm by ligature — where cutting a person down is not part of the job.
Format
Self-paced online, around 85 minutes, with practical, observational content designed to give staff “eyes open,” not alarm.