Safety Intervention Training (formerly known as MAPA Training)

Mapa Training

CPI Safety Intervention™ training, formerly known as MAPA training, equips staff with the skills and confidence to safely manage challenging and potentially aggressive behaviour in the workplace.

The one-day CPI Safety Intervention™ Training Foundation programme (Disengagements Only) is designed to equip learners with the knowledge, skills, and confidence required to recognise, prevent, and safely manage challenging behaviour in healthcare and care settings. The course focuses on promoting personal safety, reducing risk, and supporting dignity and respect for all involved.

The programme covers the core principles of crisis prevention and de-escalation, early intervention strategies, and safe, least-restrictive responses to escalating behaviour. Through a combination of theory and practical application, learners are prepared to respond appropriately to behavioural incidents while maintaining a safe and therapeutic environment.

It is widely used in healthcare, education, social care, disability services, and any environment where staff may face risk from distressed or escalated individuals. The training focuses on prevention, de-escalation, and safe physical intervention to reduce the likelihood of injury to both staff and those in their care.

Upon successful completion, participants will have the foundational competence to apply CPI Safety Intervention™ Training principles confidently and consistently in their professional role.

PLEASE NOTE: This course is designed for adult services and does not qualify participants to work with children. Training for those working with children is delivered through a separate CPI programme specifically designed for that setting.

Upcoming Courses

Our courses are delivered in-person at one of our training venues in Dublin, Galway and Cork.

Course times are 9am to 5pm.

    There are currently no public courses scheduled. For more information or to arrange an in-house booking, please contact us on 01 895 5755.

Dublin: Carlton Hotel Dublin Airport
Cork: Rochestown Park Hotel

Lunch and parking costs included in the price while attending in the hotels. 

Additional Course Information

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Why Complete CPI Safety Intervention Training?

1. Improved staff safety
Staff learn how to recognise early warning signs of agitation and how to respond in a calm, controlled, and professional manner. This helps to prevent situations from escalating into physical incidents.

2. Reduced risk of injury and liability
CPI techniques are designed to minimise risk, avoid pain compliance, and ensure that any physical interventions used are proportionate, ethical, and legally defensible.

3. Better outcomes for service users
The approach prioritises dignity, respect, and emotional regulation. Individuals are supported through distress rather than being controlled through force.

4. Compliance with duty of care obligations
Employers have a legal responsibility to protect staff and service users. CPI training helps organisations demonstrate that they have provided appropriate, evidence-based training in managing violence and aggression.

5. A more confident and capable workforce
Staff leave the training feeling more confident in their ability to manage difficult situations, which leads to improved morale, reduced stress, and better overall care.

CPI Safety Intervention is not simply about physical techniques. It is a complete framework for managing behaviour in a way that is safe, respectful, and aligned with best practice in care and education settings.

Course Objectives

Programme Objectives:

  • Identify and know how to respond to various levels of crisis behaviours.
  • Recognise how to manage your own consistent, calm behaviour in order to influence a positive outcome in a crisis situation.
  • Learn strategies to strengthen non-verbal communication.
  • Develop limit-setting strategies when verbally intervening to de-escalate defensive behaviours.
  • Learn safety intervention strategies to maximise safety and minimise harm.
  • Explore the Decision-Making Matrix℠ when assessing Risk Behaviour.
  • Demonstrate and practise non-restrictive and restrictive interventions that are consistent with a set of physiological principles.
  • Explore a framework to help guide staff and the individuals in distress through a process of re-establishing the relationship.

Course Programme

Course modules include:

  • Module 1 – The CPI Crisis Development Model℠
  • Module 2 – Integrated Experience
  • Module 3 – Communication Skills
  • Module 4 – Responding to Defensive Behaviours
  • Module 5 – Safety Interventions
  • Module 7 – Decision Making
  • Disengagement Skills
  • Module 8 – Post Crisis

*Module 6 is not included on the 1-day programme. Module 6 includes restrictive interventions and physical skills that are applicable to the 2-day course

High-Risk Situations

Should you work in more high-risk areas, the CPI Safety Intervention Foundation 2-Day Programme may be a better option for your training requirements.

The CPI Safety Intervention™ Foundation 2-Day programme provides comprehensive training for staff who may need to manage high-risk behaviours where there is a possibility of physical harm. It is designed for professionals working in healthcare, disability services, education, mental health, and social care settings where challenging or aggressive behaviour may occur.

This programme goes beyond de-escalation and includes restrictive interventions and holding skills, ensuring staff are fully prepared to respond safely and lawfully when physical intervention becomes unavoidable.

Contact us if you are interested in completing the 2-day programme.

Certificate Validity and Renewal

CPI CPI Safety Intervention™ Foundation certification is valid for 12 months from the date of completion.

To maintain certification and ensure skills remain current and effective, learners are required to complete refresher training annually. Refresher training reinforces core principles, updates best practice guidance, and provides an opportunity to review and practise de-escalation and intervention techniques.

Annual renewal supports:

  • continued competence and confidence

  • alignment with organisational policies and risk management procedures

  • compliance with health and safety and duty of care responsibilities

Who are Crisis Prevention Institute?

History
Founded in 1980, Crisis Prevention Institute has helped train more than 17 million people within service-oriented industries including education, health care, long term care, social care, security, and retail.

MAPA to Safety Intervention
Established in 1988, MAPA® training has been CPI’s most popular programme. In 2021, CPI updated the programme to align with RRN standards and restructured MAPA into two programmes: Verbal Intervention™ and Safety Intervention™. CPI separated prevention from physical interventions to allow organisations to tailor the  training to their relevant level of risk.

Philosophy of Training
CPI are dedicated to changing behaviours and reducing conflict for the Care, Welfare, Safety, and Security of everyone. CPI believe in the power of empathy, compassion, and meaningful connections. They believe personal safety and security are the antidotes to fear and anxiety. It’s a philosophy that is central to everything they do. It is what defines and differentiates them and informs their core beliefs.

Add to your personal skill set and add more value to your organisation by completing a CPI Safety Intervention™ course with the Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI).