How one children's care provider reduced staff injuries by 83.5% while supporting more children
Improving safety for staff and children while supporting increasingly complex needs.
In brief: Improving safety for staff and children while supporting increasingly complex needs.
- 83.5%
- 78%
- 4,998+
The Challenge
Like many providers, the organisation was not standing still. Over the following years, they experienced significant growth:
- The service grew significantly, supporting around 45 additional children.
- Overall child numbers increased by approximately 33%.
- Staff continued supporting children with complex emotional and behavioural needs.
Conventional wisdom would suggest that as services grow, incidents and injuries increase. What happened next tells a different story.
In the 12 months prior to partnering with us, the organisation recorded 1,600 staff injuries. Frequent incidents involving physical intervention were causing significant operational disruption and high staff absence rates. Supporting children with complex emotional and behavioural needs was placing immense strain on the team.
The Approach
ProActive Approaches delivered a comprehensive, trauma-responsive behaviour support training programme. Instead of focusing solely on restrictive physical interventions, the training reframed behaviour as a form of communication.
The team learned to identify sensory and emotional triggers, implement proactive de-escalation strategies, and use physical intervention only as a last resort. This gave the entire staff a shared language and framework for supporting the children in their care.
The Results
From February 2022 to April 2026, 1,402 staff injuries were recorded across a four-year period. That equates to an average of roughly 350 injuries per year.
Compared with the previous annual figure of 1,600 injuries, this represents a 78% reduction in annual staff injuries, and an 83.5% reduction in staff injury rates when adjusted for the 33% growth in children supported.
Had previous injury rates continued, the organisation would have expected between 6,400 and 8,500 staff injuries during the same period. Instead, 1,402 injuries were recorded, meaning between 4,998 and 7,110 staff injuries were avoided over four years.
Serious injuries remained extremely rare. Of the 1,402 staff injuries recorded over the four-year period, only four were classified as major injuries (less than 0.3% of all recorded injuries), despite the high complexity of the environment.
The Cultural Shift
Reducing restrictive practices and improving compliance are important. But ultimately, organisations need to answer one fundamental question: 'Are fewer people getting hurt?'
In this case, the answer is clear. The organisation achieved a substantial reduction in staff injuries while supporting significantly more children than before. This has resulted in safer staff, safer children, more stable services, and better outcomes for everyone.
“Are fewer people getting hurt? In this case, the answer is clear. The organisation achieved a substantial reduction in staff injuries while supporting significantly more children.”
Summary of Key Outcomes
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