Outka-Perkins, Lisa . 2005. Personal Safety in Remote Work Locations Module 4: Building Trust in Small Towns. 0567 2V01. Missoula, MT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Technology and Development Program.

Personal Safety in Remote Work Locations is a video training program to help employees cope with the personal safety problems they encounter while working with the public. The overall goal of the fourth module, Building Trust in Small Towns, is to help employees protect their personal safety when working and living in small towns. Most Forest Service employees work and live in small towns and don't have many problems with their personal safety. Sometimes, however, conflicts break out. When this happens, people in these small towns can get upset with the Forest Service and take it out on employees and their families.

The first part of this 30-minute video shows common sources of conflicts between the Forest Service and the community. The second part of the video shows employees specific steps they can take to gain the trust of people in small towns. The video emphasizes how building trust is the most powerful tool employees have to protect their personal safety. The video ends by discussing how employees can cope in the unlikely event overt hostility should ever get directed at them, their families, or their personal property.

Keywords: safety at work, towns, trust