Retail moves to ensure no staff violence

Shopworkers' union Usdaw has welcomed the latest move

by the country's top retailers to ensure the best possible measures are in place to protect shop staff from violence and abuse. The British Retail Consortium has published a new best practice guide for employers, which aims to increase awareness of the impact that violence against staff has on employees and to challenge the perception that abuse of shopworkers is acceptable.

The guidelines called ‘‘Tackling Violence Against Staff’ are endorsed by Usdaw and show the extent of the action being taken by retailers to keep their staff safe. These include having clear policies against violence and abuse, robust store based risk assessments, appropriate store layout, security and preventative measures, good staff training and reporting procedures and providing support for staff after incidents.

John Hannett, Usdaw General Secretary said, “Usdaw welcomes these guidelines. The BRC’s support for the union’s Freedom from Fear campaign has been very helpful. Working together we have seen a significant reduction in serious assaults in the last five years.”

“However we share the BRC’s concern that reports of threats and verbal abuse have escalated and the rise in robberies over the last year shows that there is no room for complacency. Usdaw is committed to working with the BRC and with employers to make it clear that abuse is not part of the job.”

“Usdaw also shares the BRC’s concern about the response of the police and the criminal justice system to retail crime, particularly in view of the 20% cut to police budgets which will take 16,000 police officers and 1,800 PCSOs off our streets.”