LIKE it or not, most of us see more of our colleagues in an average week than we do our friends.

Spending up to 40 hours per week in each other’s company is a long time and means that sometimes co-workers can be in a good position to spot when things are not right.

And if we were trained correctly, we may be able to spot signs of an abusive relationship in people who sit across the desk from us, or people we come into contact with at work.

Alpha Vesta CIC has launched a six-month pilot project called Bridging The Gap which aims to give people the tools to spot domestic abuse red flags through the workplace.

Training on a variety of levels is being offered to businesses across Essex by founding director Lucy Whittaker, who has been working with domestic violence victims for years.

Make no mistake, the issue is rife.

One in four women and one in six men experience domestic abuse at some point during their adult life, while figures last year showed a third of violent crime in the county was domestic-related.

In business terms, it is estimated the social and economic costs of domestic abuse in England and Wales is £66billion per year. This impacts on public services through costs to physical and mental health, criminal justice, social services, housing and refuge and lost economic output.

“I used to find it incredible the amount of money spent as cases reached the criminal justice system or social services,” Lucy said.

“I always thought ‘Why is more not being done on the other end? Why let things get this bad?’.

“It does affect the workplace be it not being able to perform, or taking time off.

“People used to tell me not to call them in working hours because their bosses didn’t know.

“Some bigger companies are now taking it more seriously and have commissioned their own research.

“People say to me: ‘Nobody who works here has a problem like that?’ And my response is always to see whether they have even asked them.

“We are talking about something affecting one in four women and one in six men.

“It might be they are always fixated on their personal phone because they know if they don’t respond to a message they will be in trouble.

“If you are feeling like this, then you cannot function at full pelt.

“The biggest barrier for me is employers thinking this is not something they need to think about.”

The police, fire and crime commissioner for Essex has funded the project with just shy of £20,000.

Training has been piloted and refined and is now ready to take on the road to firms over the next six months.

“There is always a mixture of people – some are very sceptical, but they are often they end up being the people who get the most out it,” Lucy added.

“They realise they recognise some of the things I am talking about in people they know.”

Lucy said she was keen to clear up many misconceptions about domestic violence, including tired cliches like the victim always goes back.

“If you ask most people what they would say to someone in a troubled relationship they say they would advise them to get out of it,” she said.

“What they don’t understand is that in certain situations it can cause things to escalate and get worse.

“We want people to understand the risks of some actions and bust some of the myths.”

For more information about the training package available or to get in touch, visit alphavesta.com.