Dealing with incidents of violence and abuse

This guide for Usdaw members explains what you need to do if you are assaulted or verbally abused. Please read it carefully and make sure that other members in your workplace know what to do as well.

Report the Incident

Make sure that you report the incident to management. Good employers will have standard reporting systems you can use to report any incident of verbal or physical violence. Try to remember as much detail as you can about the assailant. Even if there is no formal reporting procedure it is important to let your manager know if you feel intimidated or threatened by an incident.

Complete the Accident Book

Where your employer does not have a separate reporting system, if you are injured in the assault make sure that there is an entry in the Accident Book. The Accident Book entry should give brief details of what happened, date and time and the injuries involved.

Claiming Compensation

If you suffer physical or mental injury as a result of a violent crime you may have a claim with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). The Usdaw legal service will help you make a CICA claim. Contact your union rep or local Usdaw office for a Legal Plus application form (BL1). Speak to them as soon as possible after the incident to get the ball rolling.

Inform the Police

If you do suffer a physical or mental injury as a result of an incident you must report it personally to the police. This is vital if you need to make a claim to the CICA. Under CICA rules you must report the incident personally within 48 hours. You must do this even if someone else like the manager or security officer where you work has reported the incident already. The only exceptions allowed are when your injuries prevent you from reporting personally.

Let Usdaw Know

Even if you don't want to make a claim, please let your Usdaw rep or your local Usdaw office know about the incident. They can use the union Incident Report Form to pass details on to Central Office. This allows the union to look at what can be done to help you and also to collect information that can help the campaign.

Investigating the Incident

Your Usdaw health and safety rep can use their legal powers to investigate what happened. They can look for evidence from your incident and from other incidents that shows there is a problem with the protection your employer provides or the work practices you are expected to carry out.

Putting in place Preventative Measures

Where your health and safety rep identifies problems they can take the matter up with management and ask for changes to working practices or for better safety precautions to reduce the risk of the same thing happening in the future.

Don't Overlook Discrimination

Your employer has a duty to do all they can to protect you from racist or sexist harassment and abuse from the public. This also applies if you are abused because of any disability. Make sure that reports of any such incidents include all the discriminatory elements. Discuss the issues with your Usdaw rep so that they can talk to management about future preventative measures.

Using the Media

The union can use the information you provide to publicise the campaign against retail violence in the local and national media. We appreciate that many members who are attacked will not want to talk to journalists and normally any details you give will be treated as confidential. However, if you would be willing to talk to the local press, please contact your Area Organiser through your local Usdaw office or contact the Media and Communications Department at Central Office (0161-224 2804).

The leaflet is available to download from the resource library. Alternatively, you can order copies from the Stationery department.

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© 2003 (USDAW) Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
This page: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/campaigns/freedom_from_fear/resources/1060349982_22764.html
Last Modified: Thursday, 06-Sep-2007 23:59:59 EST
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