A special courage: dealing with the Paddington rail crash

Supporting traumatized employees requires special skills and techniques if it is to be effective. Unfortunately, there is little to inform or guide or ganizations on how this should be achieved. The present controversy over th e use of trauma management systems and debriefing has not been helpful in i nforming organizations on the best way to take care of employees who become traumatized during the course of their work. This paper looks at how Sains bury's Supermarkets Ltd managed traumatization through the activation of it s Violence at Work policy and procedures, and finally presents the results of an evaluation exercise that was undertaken following the Paddington rail crash.