Learn the essential skills for conflict de-escalation
With increasing levels of aggressive and violent behaviour towards frontline staff, we need to arm our people with valuable practical skills to de-escalate potential conflict situations.
Safety 'n Action are backed by several years of practical in-person and online training delivered to the healthcare sector, construction, retail and general front-line services sectors. Our training is backed by decades of safety training delivery and is delivered by highly skilled training professionals.
Train online (live webinar), in-person at our training centre or your workplace.
Please bring along your ID - We need to verify the identity of students in attendance, please bring your ID with you on the day of training.
Key Programme Content
Introduction to conflict De-escalation
Defining conflict
Gain an understanding of conflict and the ability to recognise different manifestations of conflict, including verbal and physical confrontations.
Common Triggers
This section involves exploring the root causes, triggers, and common factors contributing to conflict escalation
Recognising changes in behaviour
This section encompass recognising the various stages of escalation, which include neutral, escalated, and violent phases, as well as acquiring the ability to detect alterations in both verbal and physical behaviours in individuals that could indicate the onset of conflict.
Communication Models and De-escalation
Dynamic Risk Assessment
develop the skill to dynamically assess risk levels throughout conflicts and acquire the capacity to gather real-time information to make informed decisions.
Factors that impact
analyse the impact of personal and environmental factors on conflict dynamics, while also comprehending how these elements influence conflict management strategies.
Verbal and Non-verbal communication
This section encompasses identifying and mitigating barriers to communication, examining the application of Active Listening as a de-escalation tool, and delving into the role of effective communication, encompassing elements such as body language, tone, pace, volume, and language choice, in both conflict prevention and resolution.
Communication and De-escalation models and strategies
Here you will learn the skills of distinguishing between factual information and emotional responses. It further delves into the art of diffusing tense situations by employing effective communication techniques, including active listening, body language, tone modulation, volume control, and language selection. Additionally, participants will be introduced to established communication and de-escalation models to enhance their conflict resolution capabilities.
Distance, stance and positioning
This learning module focuses on teaching optimal techniques for personal safety, including appropriate distance, stance, and positioning. Participants will also learn strategies to ensure a secure physical presence in various situations.
Disengagement techniques
Learn safe and effective disengagement techniques, along with the critical knowledge of when and how to remove oneself physically from potential harm for enhanced personal safety.
Dynamic Risk Assessment and Level Framework
Policies and Procedures
This module delves into the examination of organisational policies and procedures concerning conflict de-escalation, emphasizing the critical aspect of aligning these practices with both institutional and national guidelines to maintain compliance.
The Legal Framework and How it can support you
This module focuses on clarifying the legal framework that governs conflict situations and demonstrates how a comprehensive understanding of legal considerations can be a valuable tool in effectively managing conflicts.
Reporting incidents and getting support
Here we underscore the significance of timely and accurate incident reporting while also identifying the support resources accessible to healthcare professionals (we can tailor these resources to the industry you are working in).
Wrap-around support to kaimahi
Certificate of Completion
Digital or hard-copy De-escalation manual
24/7 customer care support
The ability to Adapt the training content for regional or cultural needs as required
Entry Criteria:
All students are required to have a level of written and oral English equivalent to NCEA level 1 (year 11) or IELTS 5.5 or higher, to be eligible to attend our courses. The person responsible for making bookings or authorising attendance on the course must agree to these Terms and Conditions prior to acceptance of their student(s) onto the course. Where a student does not meet our English language requirement a reader/writer must be supplied by the student or the person responsible for authorising the student’s attendance. The reader/writer cannot be another student attending the same course.
Everything you need to know about Conflict De-escalation Introduction training in New Zealand.
The Conflict De-escalation Introduction course teaches frontline workers the essential knowledge and practical skills needed to recognise, manage and safely de-escalate conflict situations in the workplace. The half-day course covers conflict recognition, common triggers, behaviour changes, verbal and non-verbal communication techniques, dynamic risk assessment, disengagement strategies and the legal framework around conflict management. It is suitable for any worker who may encounter aggressive or challenging behaviour on the job.
This course is ideal for frontline workers across healthcare, retail, construction, hospitality, education, security, transport, local government and customer service who may encounter aggressive, violent or challenging behaviour. It is also suitable for supervisors, managers and team leaders responsible for the safety and wellbeing of frontline staff. Any organisation wanting to reduce the risk of workplace violence and improve staff confidence should consider this training.
Participants learn how to:
Define and recognise different types of conflict
Identify common triggers and root causes of escalation
Recognise the stages of escalating behaviour
Use verbal and non-verbal communication techniques to de-escalate situations
Apply active listening as a de-escalation tool
Conduct dynamic risk assessments during conflict situations
Use safe distancing, stance and positioning
Safely disengage from potentially violent situations
The course also covers relevant policies, procedures and the legal framework around conflict management.
Workplace aggression and violence towards frontline staff is increasing across New Zealand. Conflict de-escalation training helps workers recognise warning signs earlier, respond more calmly and effectively, reduce the likelihood of situations escalating to violence and protect their own physical and psychological safety. Employers also have a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 to take all practicable steps to keep workers safe, which includes providing training to manage foreseeable workplace risks such as aggressive behaviour.
The Conflict De-escalation Introduction course is delivered over half a day (approximately 4 hours) with a maximum of 14 participants per session. It is available face-to-face at Safety 'n Action training centres, onsite at your workplace or as a live webinar online — making it flexible for teams across all locations in New Zealand.
Yes. Safety 'n Action delivers the Conflict De-escalation Introduction course as a live interactive webinar, allowing participants to complete training from anywhere in New Zealand. The online option provides the same practical content, trainer interaction and skills as the face-to-face course, making it ideal for remote teams or organisations with staff across multiple sites.
The Conflict De-escalation Introduction is a half-day course covering the foundational knowledge and skills for recognising and de-escalating conflict situations. Safety 'n Action also offers the Conflict De-escalation and Personal Restraint Introduction, which is a full-day course that builds on these foundations and includes personal restraint techniques for situations where de-escalation alone is not sufficient. The introduction course is ideal for most frontline roles, while the full-day course suits higher-risk environments.
Yes. Safety 'n Action delivers the Conflict De-escalation Introduction course onsite at your workplace anywhere in New Zealand. Company bookings allow organisations to train up to 14 staff together and can be tailored to reflect your industry, specific conflict scenarios and workplace environment. Training content can also be adapted for regional or cultural requirements where needed.
Conflict de-escalation training is particularly valuable for healthcare and aged care workers, retail staff, customer service teams, security personnel, hospitality workers, transport and public-facing roles, construction site staff, social workers, education staff and local government employees. Any organisation whose workers regularly interact with the public or work in high-pressure environments can benefit from this training.
Safety 'n Action has years of practical experience delivering conflict de-escalation training across healthcare, construction, retail and frontline service sectors throughout New Zealand. The Conflict De-escalation Introduction course is delivered by highly skilled training professionals, combines practical skills with real-world scenarios and is available face-to-face, onsite or online. Participants receive a Certificate of Completion, a digital or hard-copy de-escalation manual and access to 24/7 customer care support.
How can we help?
Speak to us today about your needs and lets create a programme to meet your site requirements.
Students acquire the ability to recognise escalating behavior and the various stages of escalated individuals, employ proactive measures to mitigate conflict risk and implement effective conflict management strategies/
Training Programme Outcome Upon completion
I loved learning all about different ways to de escalate conflict situations
Student Feedback June 2024
Great course, great instructor, lots of information that will benefit me in the future.
Student Feedback 17 June 2026
Informative and useful, practical solutions provided. Thanks!
Student Feedback 18 June 2026
Good course, raising awareness on things to look out for and ways to de-escalate conflicts in person and on the phone.