Making a deal is as important as working safe for Karin Davidson.

The Vancouver realtor says she meets and interviews prospective clients in her office before showing them homes that are for sale. She also trusts her instincts. Whenever she feels uncomfortable about a location, she always asks somebody—a colleague, a friend, or a family member—to accompany her. During open houses, she makes sure there’s another realtor with her inside the property.

“You just have to do your due diligence,” Davidson told the Georgia Straight. “I think it comes to a point that it becomes personal accountability. We all have to be accountable for ourselves, no matter what profession we’re in.”

A realtor for about a decade now, Davidson said she has never felt in danger while doing her job. However, she acknowledged that incidents like the violent death of Victoria realtor Lindsay Buziak in February serve as a reminder that realtors face safety issues. Buziak’s body, bearing multiple stab wounds, was found by police inside a property she had been showing. In October, Surrey realtor Edie Takahashi was bound, gagged, and robbed by two men who posed as home buyers. And in 1985, realtor Beverly Seto was stabbed to death while holding an open house near Abbotsford.

The risks of working with strangers, often in vacant properties, are no different for American realtors.

According to the Olympia, Washington–based Real Estate Safety Council, 21 real-estate professionals in the U.S. were killed while on the job in 2000. “A total of 206 agents died as a result of violent assaults from 1982 to 2000,” states the group’s Personal Safety Guide. “Many more were raped, beaten and robbed.”

Composed of representatives from the real-estate community, the Real Estate Safety Council was formed after Bellevue, Washington–based realtor Mike Emert was killed inside a home he was showing in 2001.

Canadian industry groups like the Canadian Real Estate Association and the B.C. Real Estate Association have been putting out personal-safety guides for several years.

The CREA’s guide recommends that realtors take 10 seconds to assess their surroundings at various stages when entering a home, starting when they arrive at the destination, step out of the car, walk toward the property, come to the door, and walk inside.

“Don’t let yourself be manipulated, trapped or isolated, and be ready to react quickly if you think that’s what is happening,” the guide states.

Craig Munn, a spokesperson for the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, provided the Straight with a guide that, he said, his group coproduced with the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.

On the subject of showing several properties, the guide suggests that realtors phone their office occasionally to check in. “If you are suspicious or fearful of someone you are with, use these calls as an excuse to return to the office immediately and say or do whatever is necessary to feel safe,” the guide states. “Never be deterred by fear of social awkwardness or losing a potential client. It’s not worth your personal safety.”

In a phone interview, Munn said that the REBGV recently conducted a safety seminar for realtors. He also said the board has set up a task force on realtor safety that will hold its first meeting later this month.

Neither the BCREA nor the REBGV have statistics on attacks against realtors in the province.

Unlike most employers, realty companies are not normally covered by WorkSafeBC. As part of its mandate, this provincial agency reviews working conditions and sets safety standards.

“The Workers Compensation Act requires employers to register with WorkSafeBC,” agency spokesperson Donna Freeman explained to the Straight. “Employers pay insurance premiums, so that protects them from being sued if there’s an injury or workplace fatality.”

Freeman noted, however, that realtors are typically considered self-employed, although they work with specific realty companies. This means most realtors do not have the protections offered by WorkSafeBC.

Freeman said she is not aware of any moves to change this.