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, a groundbreaking two-year partnership designed to minimise the risk of harm from gambling among casino clients, has further strengthened the close working relationship between EPIC Risk Management (Risk Management) and The Hippodrome.
Both parties recently teamed up to deliver an initial pilot program, delivered by EPIC, as a prelude to the new arrangement. This was followed by a showcase at the iconic central London venue to highlight the importance of harm minimisation training for UK casinos.
EPIC is now working at The Hippodrome, with both licensed and unlicensed staff. They will ensure that the safer gambling practices are at the forefront of all their interactions with customers throughout their visit.
The first programme, delivered by the world’s leading gambling harm minimisation consultant, will consist of a series 20 workshops and 4 focus group evaluation sessions. These sessions will examine key best practices, such as identifying risks and harms in player activities, vulnerability, stigmatization, meaningful interactions, and increasing confidence.
All sessions will be co-facilitated by EPIC, which has extensive experience in both gambling-related harms and casino management. The aim is that Hippodrome staff members can apply the knowledge they have gained through the workshop to their real-world situations.
Joanna Whitehall, EPIC’s sustainability manager, will play a key role in the delivery. She is pleased to be able share her experiences and lessons learned from working in casino environments.
She explained , “We are very happy to have strengthened our very close relationship with The Hippodrome Casino.”
We hear stories of gambling-related harm experienced by our facilitators across the company. This type of training was not a standard practice in casinos before, so it is understandable that staff members who were in contact with customers and felt the urge to intervene when there were cases of harm did not know how to handle them.
“Now, we can give specific examples of markers that indicate harm and show how to approach the conversation with confidence. This will help us identify risk and prevent gambling-related harm from happening.
We look forward to continuing to work with The Hippodrome Casino to improve safety and security for both staff and customers. We also trust that we can expand this program to other land-based casino venues across the UK, who have shown an interest in similar projects at their venue.
Sam Douglas is the director of business services for The Hippodrome casino.
“We are delighted to partner with EPIC Risk Management in order to help our employees develop empathy and understanding by living experience.
The training that they provide has already had a positive effect on our team. We are pleased that this partnership helps us create a safe environment in the future for our players.
