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Network Journal 2006 Issue 4 Nov/Dec |
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Welcome fall in crime figures
The numbers of attacks, threats and verbal abuse aimed at shop workers are all well down on the previous year, a new survey has shown.
Usdaw has given a cautious welcome to the figures released by employers' group the British Retail Consortium as part of its annual retail crime survey for 2005.
For the period that Usdaw has been running its award-winning Freedom From Fear campaign, the reported levels of abuse and violence rose sharply in 2002 - probably the result of the higher profile that the campaign gave to the issue. So the steady decline over the last two years is welcome and hopefully reflects a genuine improvement.
However, the number of assaults and abuse are still high. Violence is clearly still a major risk for members in shops. Safety reps need to keep using the Usdaw guide and risk assessment checklist to make sure that everything that can be done is being done in their own stores to protect members.
Commenting on the figures, General Secretary John Hannett said: "This issue has been top of our agenda since we launched our Freedom From Fear campaign and it's fair to say that employers, employees, local authorities and the Government have listened to our concerns. We also want to see the police take a more rigorous approach to retail crime.
"Retail crime is not a victimless crime. Some of our members have been beaten by violent robbers; aggressive shoplifters are threatening and traumatising staff, and impatient customers think it acceptable to scream and shout at staff for the most trivial of matters. No worker should have to put up with any of this.
"What is very worrying is that many workers don't report verbal abuse because it has become so frequent. It's as if staff think it is part and parcel of the job when in fact it certainly is not.
"It's no time for complacency, but we know that when all interested parties work together we can minimise the risks to shop workers and make the retail environment safer for both staff and customers.
"I'm confident our Freedom From Fear campaign has played an important part in making shopworkers safer."
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2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
| Physical assaults |
16,900 |
18,900 |
21,500 |
10,800 |
| Threats of violence |
18,900 |
126,900 |
51,300 |
18,900 |
| Verbal abuse |
21,500 |
62,100 |
83,700 |
43,200 |
| Total |
57,300 |
207,900 |
156,500 |
72,900 |
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