NCJ Number
206777
Journal
Corrections Today Magazine Volume: 66 Issue: 4 Dated: July 2004 Pages: 72,74,76,77
Date Published
July 2004
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article discusses some of the areas crucial to correctional staff safety identified through a staff analysis of safety issues in work areas of Ohio prisons with which each staff member was not familiar.
Abstract
The intent of this exercise, which was launched by the director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, prompted the staff in all correctional facilities to step out of their comfort zones and their own work areas to review and analyze policies and procedures in sections of the prison where they did not normally work. This procedure produced some insights that upgraded staff safety. Staff communication was identified as an important feature of effective employee safety practices. Even experienced prison staff tend to become lax about communicating important security information to one another. It was also found that electronic security systems often gave staff a false sense of security. Staff should receive regular training in the importance of the effective use and maintenance of electronic security systems. It is also important that correctional staff who meet with groups of inmates be aware of the risks associated with these meetings, particularly immediately before the group meeting begins and immediately after it ends. Other areas where staff safety is an important consideration are the placement of the staff office and the kinds of equipment and tools that may be accessible to inmates who visit the staff office. Finally, staff behaviors are important in determining inmate behaviors. Behaving in a professional and consistent manner when interacting with inmates helps maintain an appropriate inmate-staff distance in which both staff and inmates are aware that security is a key issue in the interaction.