Home visit safety checklist

Most serious incidents involving community workers happen inside a client's home, out of sight of any colleague. This checklist is the field companion to your risk assessment: quick enough to actually use before every visit, structured enough to catch the known failure points.

Who it's for: Community services, healthcare, disability and social services staff conducting home visits alone, and the coordinators who schedule them.

Free to use and adapt · Last updated 2026-07-21 · No email required

Before the visit

Client record checked for risk flags, incident history and household members
Reason for any previous flag understood, not just noted
Visit logged in the schedule with address, expected start and duration
Check-in or safety timer set for the visit length
Phone charged; coverage at the address known (plan for dead zones)
Duress device or safety app tested and worn accessibly, not in a bag
First visit or new flag: consider a paired visit or meeting at a controlled site instead

On arrival

Park facing the direction of exit, not blocked in the driveway
Note the exits before knocking
Assess the door answer: unexpected people, intoxication, animals, raised voices
Anything off: do not enter. Rebook, retreat and report
Check in on arrival if the schedule requires it

During the visit

Stay between yourself and an exit; avoid rooms with one way out
Keep the duress device within immediate reach the entire visit
Keep keys and phone on your person, not on a table
Watch for escalation: raised voice, pacing, blocking movement, substance use
Use your exit line early. Leaving an uncomfortable visit is compliance with this procedure, not failure

After the visit

Check out; stop the safety timer
Log the visit outcome
Report any discomfort, near miss or new information, even if nothing happened
Update or request a client risk flag while the details are fresh

Escalation quick reference

Check-in contact and number

Emergency number 000

Duress phrase or code word A phrase that sounds routine but signals for help on a call

After-hours escalation contact

How to use it

Getting the most out of this template

Make the pre-visit section part of scheduling, not memory. If the record check is manual, it will be skipped on busy days.
Back the 'do not enter' and 'leave early' items with explicit management support. Workers only use them if leaving is never punished.
Print the escalation quick reference on a wallet card or pin it in the app your team actually opens.
Review flags as data: visits that generate discomfort reports are telling you where the next incident is.

This template is general information, not legal advice. Requirements differ by jurisdiction and industry; check the guidance published by Safe Work Australia and your state WHS regulator and seek advice for your specific circumstances.

Questions

Frequently asked

What should be checked before a home visit?

The client record for risk flags and history, who else is in the household, phone coverage at the address, and that the visit is logged with a check-in or safety timer set. First visits and newly flagged clients warrant a paired visit or a controlled-site meeting instead.

What are the warning signs to leave a visit?

Escalating voice, pacing, positioning between you and the exit, intoxication, unexpected people arriving, or your own instinct that something is wrong. Leave early and report it; the paperwork can be rebooked.

Should workers carry a duress alarm on home visits?

For client-facing home visits the risk assessment will almost always say yes: a monitored device or app with the alarm reachable without unlocking a phone, worn on the body rather than carried in a bag.

The template covers the paperwork. Duress covers the response.

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