Free Safety Training Launches for Anyone Working in Ireland’s Nightlife Scene
Free Safety Training Launches for Anyone Working in Ireland’s Nightlife Scene
Text: Izzy Copestake
There is a major focus on sexual harassment, drink spiking, and violence against women and girls.
People working in Ireland’s night-time economy can now have access to a new set of free online safety training modules. So if you’re anyone from bar staff and security to taxi drivers and festival crew, and you want to learn more, listen up. The government’s newly launched ‘Safe & Sound’ initiative is designed to help those working nights respond more confidently and effectively to serious issues like sexual harassment, drink spiking, and violence against women and girls.
The training is available for the next 12 months in nine pilot areas: Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Kilkenny, Drogheda, Sligo, Buncrana, and Longford. It’s aimed at people working in nightlife settings of all kinds, including pubs, clubs, restaurants, venues, taxis, hotels, gyms, and festivals. The training is fully online, self-paced, and broken into short, 30-minute modules. Topics include how to respond to drink spiking, how to support vulnerable people, how to safely intervene as a bystander, and how to handle incidents of sexual harassment or gender-based violence.
Venues and businesses will also be able to access “17 ready-to-use policy templates” which are specifically tailored to Irish law and nightlife environments. These are said to cover a range of safety-related topics, including mental health support, dispersal management, drug and alcohol use, and crime scene preservation. The goal is to make it easier for businesses, especially smaller ones without dedicated HR or training resources, to put clear, consistent safety procedures in place.
The training and policy package was developed in response to feedback from workers and businesses during the creation of Ireland’s local Night-Time Economy Action Plans. Whether the initiative rolls out nationwide will depend on the success of this pilot phase. For now, though, anyone working in nightlife in the nine participating areas can sign up and start using the training immediately.
Policy templates are available to all Night-Time Economy Businesses here.
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