The Welfare Check Request SOP

Purpose

When a regular customer who lives alone does not answer for a booked visit and something about the house says they should be there, this procedure makes sure the right people are told within minutes, without anyone from the shop forcing a door, climbing through a window or going inside. Without it, one tech leaves a card and drives off from a customer lying on a bathroom floor, and another lets himself in with the lockbox code and becomes the first person at a scene he was never equipped to handle.

Scope

Covers a booked or route visit where the customer does not answer and at least one sign suggests they are home or should be. It does not cover a person you can see is in distress, smoke, a carbon monoxide alarm or a gas smell, all of which are 911 calls at once and belong to The Medical Emergency on a Service Call SOP and the shop's gas and CO procedures. It does not cover a customer who answers and is plainly unwell or not coping (see related: What a Tech Can and Cannot Do About a Welfare Concern), and it is not a reason to enter a home by any means.

Roles and responsibilities

The procedure

1. Decide whether this is a no-show or a welfare concern

Knock and ring three times over five minutes, then call the customer's phone from the doorstep and listen for it ringing inside. Acceptance: a welfare concern exists only if there is no answer AND at least one sign is present: the visit was confirmed by the customer within the last 48 hours; their car is in the driveway; two or more days of mail or newspapers have piled up; lights or a television are on at an odd hour; the phone rings inside unanswered; a pet is in distress; there is a bad smell at the door; or the record shows the customer is housebound. Wrong looks like: sending police to every no-show, or ignoring three signs because the customer "probably forgot." Stop rule: no sign means an ordinary no-show; leave a card in the door frame, not on the outside where it advertises an empty house, and the office follows up by phone. Hazard: stand to one side of the door, not square in front of it or its glass, because a dog or a startled occupant comes through a door fast; do not put a hand or face to a mail slot.

2. Look from outside, only from where you may stand

Walk the ground-level paths and look through ground-floor windows. Do not try door handles, open a gate that is shut, climb, or step into a window well. Acceptance: a walk of no more than five minutes, nothing opened or climbed, and what you saw noted with the time. Wrong looks like and stop rule: a person visible on the floor, a cry for help, smoke, an alarm sounding, or a gas smell means 911 now, from where you stand; for gas, move well away from the building first and do not operate any switch, doorbell or vehicle near it. An unlocked door is not permission, and stays shut. Tell the office after the 911 call, not before. Hazard: window wells, uneven ground and hose reels at the side of a house are where techs fall; a dog loose in a back yard means you stay out of that yard.

3. Call the office, and the office calls the customer's people

Phone the office with what you have seen. The office calls every number on file for the customer, then the emergency contact. Acceptance: the office is reached within two minutes; within ten minutes of that call every customer number has been tried and the emergency contact has been reached; each attempt is logged with the time and result. Wrong looks like and stop rule: an emergency contact who cannot be reached, or a number that is disconnected, does not hold up the procedure: log it and go straight to step 4. If a neighbor says they have a key, pass that to the office; whether the neighbor goes in is their decision, and the tech does not go with them. Hazard: wait in the truck, not on the doorstep, where an unknown occupant or a dog can reach you; if anyone approaches angry, drive away and call the office.

4. Request a welfare check on the police non-emergency line

The office, or the tech if the office cannot reach the line, calls the local police non-emergency number, which should be on the tech's phone for every service area. Acceptance: the request is accepted and the caller has an incident or reference number and an estimated arrival time, written into the log. Wrong looks like and stop rule: on hold for more than ten minutes, or told to call 911, means hang up and call 911, stating that this is a welfare check request for a person who did not answer. If any sign from step 2 appears while you wait, that is a 911 call regardless. Hazard: a tech making this call parks first; a phone call while driving away from the house is how the second incident of the day happens. The words that work:

OFFICE:   I'd like to request a welfare check.
DISPATCH: What's the address?
OFFICE:   14 Elm Street. The resident is 79 and
          lives alone. She confirmed a 9 a.m.
          service visit yesterday. Our technician
          is outside now.
DISPATCH: What makes you concerned?
OFFICE:   Car's in the driveway, two newspapers
          on the step, her phone rings inside.
DISPATCH: Is anyone hurt that you can see?
OFFICE:   Nobody visible. He hasn't gone in and
          won't. He'll wait by his truck.

5. Wait in view, for a set time

The tech stays parked where the house is in sight, in the truck, until officers arrive or 45 minutes have passed since the non-emergency call, whichever is first, and the office tells the next customer the tech will be late. Acceptance: the tech is in the truck, in view, and the office has the tech's position. Wrong looks like and stop rule: wandering the property, or leaving without telling the office, breaks the handover. If the estimated arrival is beyond 45 minutes, the office decides whether to release the tech; if released, the office stays the contact for the officers, and the tech leaves no note on the door. Hazard: the truck is the safe place; stay in it with the doors locked, and leave if anyone at the property becomes hostile.

6. Hand over to the officers and step back

Give the officers the facts: the customer's name, why you were there, what you saw and when, the last confirmed contact, and the emergency contact's details. If the shop holds a key or lockbox code, say so and say it was given for service access; the owner decides by phone, then and there, whether to hand it over. Acceptance: the officers have the facts and the incident number matches the log; the tech is back at the truck. Wrong looks like and stop rule: a tech who goes in with the officers, even when invited. Decline politely: "I'll stay out here in case you need anything." Hazard: whatever is inside may be a medical scene, a death or a biological hazard, and none of it is the tech's to handle; if officers force a door, stand well clear of it.

7. Tell the emergency contact what is yours to tell

The office tells the emergency contact that a welfare check was requested and officers attended, and gives the incident number. Acceptance: the contact has been informed within an hour of the officers arriving, or every attempt is logged. Wrong looks like and stop rule: the office relaying a death, an injury or any medical detail it heard secondhand from the tech. Never: that notification belongs to the police or the hospital, and the office's sentence is "the police are there now; here is the reference number to call them." Hazard: none at this step; it is a call made from a desk.

8. Record it and close it out

Complete the record the same day and book the follow-up: a rescheduled visit, and a courtesy call to the customer if they were found well, made kindly, because a customer who was simply asleep may be embarrassed. Acceptance: every field below filled before the end of the day, and the owner has read it. Wrong looks like and stop rule: a record that says "no answer, called police" with no times, no signs and no reference number is not finished; send it back. Hazard: none at this step; it is desk work. The owner decides whether the account gets a factual access note such as "lives alone, confirm by phone the morning of the visit."

The record this produces

One entry on the customer's account, read later by the owner, the next tech, and anyone asked to account for what the shop did:

• Date, tech, scheduled and actual arrival time.
• The step 1 signs that made it a welfare concern, each with its time.
• What was seen at step 2, and whether 911 was called and when.
• Each phone attempt at step 3, with time and result, including numbers found disconnected.
• The non-emergency call: time placed, time answered, the incident number, the estimated arrival.
• Officer arrival time; what was handed over; the owner's key decision, if any.
• The emergency contact notification, with time, or the attempts.
• Follow-up booked; any account note the owner approved.

A worked pass

A furnace service at 9:00 on a Tuesday in November, at the home of a 79-year-old customer who lives alone and has used the shop for eight years. She confirmed the visit by phone the previous afternoon.

• Step 1, pass. Arrived 8:58. Knocked and rang at 9:00, 9:02 and 9:04; called her phone at 9:03 and heard it ring inside. Signs present: confirmed within 48 hours (yesterday afternoon), car in the driveway, two newspapers on the step, phone ringing inside. Four signs, so a welfare concern.
• Step 2, pass. Walked the paths 9:05 to 9:09, four minutes. Kitchen light on; blinds closed on the bedroom and bathroom windows; nobody visible, no alarm, no smell. Nothing that made it a 911 call. Nothing opened or climbed.
• Step 3, FAIL, stop rule taken. Office reached at 9:10. Home number 9:11, no answer; mobile 9:12, no answer; emergency contact, a niece, 9:13: number disconnected. The contact attempt failed, so per the stop rule the office logged it and went straight to step 4 rather than searching for another relative.
• Step 4, pass. Non-emergency line called 9:15, answered 9:23, eight minutes on hold against the ten-minute limit. Incident number recorded, estimated arrival 30 minutes.
• Step 5, pass. Tech in the truck in view of the house; office moved the 10:30 customer to 11:30. Officers arrived inside the 45-minute window.
• Step 6, pass. Officers arrived 9:49, 34 minutes after the call was placed. Tech gave the facts. The shop held no key. Officers found the rear door unlocked and went in; the customer had fallen in the bathroom overnight and was conscious. Paramedics were called. The tech stayed at the truck.
• Step 7, pass on the attempt. The niece's number was disconnected, so the office could not notify her; it logged that at 10:05 and gave the officers the niece's name from the account for them to trace.
• Step 8, pass. Record complete at 15:40, read by the owner. The owner called the customer's home four days later; her nephew answered, gave a new number for the niece, and the office updated the emergency contact.

The step 3 failure is the case its stop rule exists for, and taking it cost no time because nothing downstream depended on reaching the niece. It was also the record's most useful finding: the shop now confirms emergency contacts once a year for customers who live alone.

References

• See related: What a Tech Can and Cannot Do About a Welfare Concern
• See related: The Medical Emergency on a Service Call SOP
• See related: Writing a Safety Flag on a Customer Record Without Defaming Them
• Your local police department's non-emergency number, loaded on each tech's phone per service area