As a support worker, you want your clients to feel safe, respected and supported. You may already think carefully about how to provide safe support and prevent serious incidents.
But harm is not always obvious. Sometimes, small everyday actions, words or assumptions can affect a client in ways you may not have intended or noticed at the time.
This is sometimes referred to as everyday harm. Over time, these small moments can build up and may affect how respected, heard, in control or safe your client feels.
The newly launched Everyday Harm website brings together practical resources to help support workers and organisations build safer, more respectful support relationships. These resources were developed through Australian Research Council studies, including interviews with people with disability about their experiences.
Mable was proud to be involved in this project as an Industry and Community Partner organisation. We hope these resources help you better understand everyday harm, recognise when it may be happening and know what you can do next. This is one way we can keep working together to make support safer across Mable.
Why everyday harm matters
Everyday harm can happen in small moments. It does not only happen through serious incidents, like an injury. Sometimes, it can happen through the way a person is spoken to, the assumptions made about them or whether they are included in choices about their support.
For example, you might say to a client’s family member, ‘She won’t want to go out today, she’s tired,’ instead of asking the client directly. You may be trying to help, but your client may feel ignored, spoken over or treated as though they are not in control of their own choices.
These moments may seem small from the outside. But for the person receiving support, they can affect how safe, respected and in control they feel.
The Everyday Harm project notes that everyday harm can affect a person’s emotions, mental health, physical health, growth and learning, relationships and reputation. It also explains that everyday harm might seem small, but the impact can build up over time.
This is especially important in support work, where relationships are built through repeated, personal interactions. If a client regularly feels spoken over, rushed, dismissed, judged or not believed, they may begin to feel anxious, frustrated or less confident speaking up.
Five areas that support safer relationships
The Everyday Harm project identifies five things every client should be able to experience in a safe, respectful support relationship. As a support worker, understanding these can help you recognise everyday harm and build stronger relationships with your clients.
- Knowing and being known
Clients should feel you understand their preferences, routines, communication style, strengths and boundaries. - Expression and feedback
Clients should feel safe to say what works, what does not work and how they want to be supported. You can support this by inviting feedback and responding with care. - Deep listening
Clients should feel listened to, believed and taken seriously when they raise a concern, even if the harm seems small or was not intended. - Understanding and noticing
As a support worker, you can learn what everyday harm might look like. If you notice something that does not feel quite right, you can name what may have happened and check in with your client. - Repair and problem-solving
If harm occurs, clients should have a way to feel heard, supported and involved in making things better. You and your client can reflect together and agree on what could work better next time.
The Everyday Harm project also describes five practical steps you can take to help prevent and address harm in support relationships. These are:
- Noticing
- Acknowledging
- Responding
- Repairing
- Making things better.
Let’s look at what these steps can mean in your day-to-day work with clients.
1. Noticing everyday harm
A helpful first step in preventing everyday harm is learning how to notice it. A client may not always say, ‘That upset me.’ They may become quieter, withdraw from the conversation, seem tense or say ‘it’s fine’ when their body language suggests otherwise.
As a support worker, noticing everyday harm may involve asking yourself:
- Did I make an assumption instead of asking?
- Did I speak with the client, or about them?
- Did I respond to their preference, or override it?
- Did the client seem uncomfortable, rushed or unheard?
- Is there something I need to check in about?
If something feels not quite right, or you notice a change in your client’s mood, body language or behaviour, try not to ignore it or assume it will pass. A quick, respectful check-in can help you understand whether harm has happened and what your client may need from you next. For example, you might say: ‘I noticed you seemed a bit quiet after I changed our plan for today. Did that feel okay, or would you like me to do it differently next time?’
While this type of check-in may feel small, it can help your client feel respected and give them an opportunity to speak up before harm continues.
2. Acknowledging harm
Acknowledging harm means taking a client’s experience seriously, even if you did not intend to cause harm.
Everyday harm can sometimes show up in subtle comments, behaviours or assumptions that can leave a person feeling judged, stereotyped, dismissed or less valued. They may be linked to disability, age, culture, gender, communication style, background or other parts of a person’s identity and experiences.
In support work, this might look like:
- Speaking to a client in a childlike voice.
- Assuming a client cannot make a decision because they communicate differently.
- Making light of someone’s memory, mobility or support needs.
- Praising a client in a way that feels patronising, such as ‘aren’t you clever?’
- Assuming what food, activities or routines a client prefers based on their culture, age or disability.
- Ignoring a client’s discomfort because ‘that’s just how they are’.
A single comment may not seem serious on its own. But when these experiences happen repeatedly, the impact can build over time. A client may feel they have to stay quiet to keep the peace, or they may lose trust that their concerns will be taken seriously.
This does not mean that you, as a support worker, need to be perfect. It is about noticing when a comment, action or assumption may have caused harm, and being willing to pause, listen and acknowledge the impact.
To better understand how everyday harm may feel from the client’s perspective, you may like to watch Nina’s story, filmed as part of the Everyday Harm project. It shows how assumptions, communication and small everyday interactions can affect a person’s sense of safety, choice and respect.
3. Responding with care
It can take a lot of courage for a client to tell you that something has made them uncomfortable or upset. They may worry about damaging the relationship, losing support or being seen as difficult. That is why the way you respond matters.
If a client raises a concern, the first step is to listen carefully. At this stage, try not to explain it away or minimise what has happened.
A supportive response might be: ‘I’m sorry that happened. Thank you for telling me. I’d like to understand what felt wrong, and what I can do differently next time.’
This kind of response can help your client feel heard and show that their concerns are being taken seriously. From there, you can agree on what could change, check back in and make sure the same harm is less likely to happen again.
Responding with care can also mean speaking up if you notice everyday harm happening, or asking for help from Mable or a relevant support person if you are unsure what to do next.
4. Repairing harm when it happens
Even with good intentions, harm may still happen. You may misunderstand a client, make an assumption, miss a cue or respond in a way that does not feel supportive. When this happens, taking steps to repair the harm can help rebuild trust.
Repair might involve:
- Checking in with the client when harm may have happened.
- Speaking up if you notice everyday harm.
- Asking for help from Mable or a relevant support person if repair feels difficult.
- Reflecting with the client about how you can work better together.
- Making a clear change so the same harm is less likely to happen again.
For example, if a client says, ‘I don’t like it when you move my things,’ a response that may feel dismissive might be, ‘I’m just trying to help.’ A more supportive response might be: ‘Thank you for telling me. I’m sorry I moved them without checking. How would you like this done next time?’
Repair does not have to be complicated. Often, it starts with listening, acknowledging the impact, apologising and making a clear change.
5. Making things better
Everyday harm is less likely to go unnoticed when you and your client have a relationship built on trust, respect and open communication.
This is why empathy, communication and relationship-building are just as important as completing support tasks well. You may know how to complete a task correctly, but safe support also depends on how that task is carried out.
For example, before preparing a meal, you could ask your client: ‘Do you want it the same way as last time, or would you like something different today?’
It is a small question, but it shows respect and lets your client know their preferences matter.
Making things better can also involve checking back in after a concern has been raised. For example, you might say: ‘I wanted to check whether the changes we spoke about last week are working better for you.’
This helps show your client that their concern was not only heard, but has led to a change in the way support is provided.
Working together to make support safer
At Mable, we have a dedicated Customer Safeguarding Team who are here to help when something goes wrong or when you're not sure what to do next. Whether you're a client or a support worker, you don't have to navigate difficult situations alone. We're here to help.
Keeping clients and support workers safe is something we take seriously. That's why we've put in place a range of safeguards to help protect the people in our community, from background checks and verification processes, to insurance and incident reporting tools.
Preventing everyday harm is not about blame or expecting every interaction to be perfect. It is about building safer support relationships where harm is easier to notice, talk about and repair.
