Decision skills

Keeping People Safe on Shift: Escalation and Boundaries

One of three CORA capability areas · about a 3-minute read

Safety in support work is rarely about heroics. It is about knowing what is yours to handle, what needs to go up, and how to meet a hard moment without making it harder. These three skills are what that looks like in practice.

The 3 skills in this area

  • Escalate WellSpot when it needs to go up (risk, health change, safeguarding) and act, not too early, not too late.
  • Stay in LaneKnow the edge of the role: support, don't diagnose or decide for; recognise what isn't yours to handle.
  • Steady the MomentMeet distress or escalation in a way that calms, not inflames.

Each page covers what the skill looks like on a shift, what it looks like when it slips, three things to try, and where the judgement stops being yours alone to make. They are written to be read in a break, not studied.

Before you act: Always follow your own organisation's policy first. For a suspected poisoning or medication error, the Poisons Information Centre is 13 11 26. In an emergency, call 000. It is worth finding your policy before the shift where you need it.

The other capability areas:

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