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Crime survey reveals lack of training to deal with violence in the workplace
02 February 2004
Two-thirds of British workers whose job involves contact with the public have not received any form of training in how to deal with violent or threatening behaviour.
The statistic, contained in a Home Office crime survey published today, is a cause of great concern to the retail trade union Usdaw, which has a campaign - called Freedom From Fear - aimed at reducing crime and the fear of crime in the retail workplace.
One of the campaign's central themes is the need for all staff, including part-time and temporary workers, to receive basic training on dealing with violence - against a background of high levels of fear among shopworkers that they are likely to be victims of attacks.
The report - Violence at Work: Findings from the 2002/2003 British Crime Survey - reveals that the risk of being a victim of actual or threatened violence is low. However, the fear of violence remains significantly high among workers in the retail sector.
In the sales occupation group, 23 per cent of workers were very or fairly worried about assaults at work and 29 per cent about threats. During the 12-month survey period, more than 48,000 workers in sales occupations had been victims of assaults or threats of assaults.
John Hannett, Usdaw General Secretary Elect, said: "This Home Office study shows that violence at work is lower than in previous years, but it also shows that many thousands of shopworkers continue to go to work every day in fear of being attacked. Usdaw's own surveys, as well as analysis from the British Retail Consortium, show that crime remains a big problem in the retail sector. It is usually measured in financial terms, but it would be wrong to record it as victimless. Usdaw is committed to working with employers, the police, local authorities and other stakeholders in order to create safer working environments."
Notes to editors:
- Usdaw is the UK's fifth largest trade union with over 330,000 members. More information and news releases are available at our online at our Freedom From Fear campaign section.
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