Keeping Yourself and Your Attendants Safe on The Job.

I see many posts in the photo booth forums, (particularly the womens forums) in regards to keeping themselves and their staff safe whilst working their booth attendant gigs. I'm not talking about general O,H & S issues here, I'm talking about taking precautions when entering private homes, dark venues, walking to and from the car etc. Of course our staff are advised to leave the event immediately if they feel unsafe, to alert us and we will pack down the booth and take care of everything. Their safety is the most important thing.

When we are attending these functions, sometimes unloading in dark alleyways, walking into a strangers home, or a football function that gets a little rowdy. The truth is we never really know what we are walking into when we go to a job.

Whilst we should be able to go about our business confidently and without fear, we need to remain aware of our surrounds and take precautions to help ensure we are safe. Many of our photo booth hires take place in Melbourne CBD and surrounds.

Here's a few things we do as small personal safety precautions:

Research loading zones at venue, to pack and unpack vehicles in well lit areas.

Pay for secure parking for our attendants, as close to the venue as possible.

Avoid walking in dark, isolated places.

Ask for assistance from security personal at the venue when walking to and from the venue to the car.

Make friends with the staff who will keep an eye on you and your equipment

Have your keys ready in advance, to avoid fumbling in a bag when trying to enter the car.

Include a clause in your terms in conditions stating that the booth will shut down without notice or warning if the attendant feels threatened or unsafe

I have also recently discovered a little trick that can act as an added safety feature should anything go awry, using an iphone.

All iphones have the Emergency SOS feature , which by pushing a group of buttons alerts your emergency contacts to your location and that you need assistance, You can also elect a call to go through to emergency services.

On the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X you will need to press and hold on the Side button while also holding one of the two Volume buttons at the same time.

When you do this, the screen below will come up, allowing you to quickly place an emergency call or alert your emergency contacts as to your location . While this slider screen is the default option and is in place to make sure you don't accidentally place a 000 call.

Setting Emergency Contacts

As mentioned above, whenever you use the SOS feature, Apple will automatically notify your emergency contacts if you have them set. Emergency contacts can be set up in the Health app:

1. Open the Health app.

2. Choose Medical ID.

3. Select "Edit" in the top right corner.

4. Scroll down to the Emergency Contacts section.

5. Tap the "+" button to add an emergency contact.

6. You can add multiple emergency contacts, each of which will receive a text message with your location if you ever use the Emergency SOS feature