Workplace Violence Reaches Record Levels
Assaults on workers dealing with the public have reached record levels, unions are warning. They say anyone who serves the public seems to be vulnerable to outbursts of anger.
Within the telecomms industry, engineers working alone have often faced gangs of youths intent on stealing equipment from their vans. The use of BT vans and uniforms by undercover police activity has also been a major concern of the Unions for some time, adding to the mix of risk of violence toward staff.
A majort news item in The Guardian earlier this month, siting a number of areas of work activity that is now sufferiung from risks of verbal and physical abuse:
Staff working alone are particularly vulnerable, such as district nurses or all-night garage attendants. Call-centre staff may not face the same risk of physical violence, but they do face the corrosive impact of continued verbal abuse. This can have serious implications, causing "emotional exhaustion, stress, making people want to quit their jobs", says Catherine Sprigg at the University of Sheffield's Institute of Work Psychology. "These are often young people, they're scared to put down the phone or tell callers they won't be sworn at."
The latest front for customer aggression is email. People take on a much more menacing tone when they're not dealing with someone face to face. But who are these people who are walking around like ticking bombs? Why would someone get violent over queuing?
There are a lot of stressed, dissatisfied people out there, frustrated in their own work and feeling that they're undervalued in their personal lives, says workplace psychologist Gary Fitzgibbon. "They go into a shop and they're already on the brink of exploding and looking for something will push them over the edge. They're looking for an easy target."
Fitzgibbon also points to the desensitising effects of television, where aggression and confrontation can come to be seen as normal behaviour. The combination of alcohol, stress and an aggressive public culture is a "toxic cocktail", he says. And in terms of the profile of who is responsible, it isn't just stereotypical troublemakers. The British Transport Police (BTP) running a campaign to reduce a persistently high level of violence against railway staff in south-west England. The BTP says that offenders include women as well as men, middle-aged passengers, married couples and professional people.
TUC Risks also highlights this issue in this weeks edition:
The shopworkers' trade union, Usdaw, says that last year there were 10,000 physical assaults by customers on retail staff. 'Shop staff have been attacked with iron bars, stabbed with hypodermic needles, customers have driven at trolley boys in the car park,' said union spokesperson Paul Clarke. Verbal abuse of staff has reached 'epidemic levels', from ranting and raving through to specific threats of violence. 'It's incredibly destructive,' Paul Clarke told the Guardian earlier this month. 'Who wants to go to their workplace and have someone shouting in their face?' NHS staff are also vulnerable to attacks - with 58,000 physical assaults last year.
UNISON spokesperson Anne Mitchell said alcohol and drugs have played a 'huge part' in the surge in attacks. A&E departments become very 'distressing' places to be, with binge drinkers and drug users taking out their aggression on staff, she said. 'Wearing a medical uniform used to be a protection, now it seems to make them a target.' Some believe the emergence of a 'rights culture' is contributing to escalating violence. Patients want to be seen immediately and get violent if they are refused. 'They're very clear about their own rights, but they don't want to think about anyone else having rights as well,' said Anne Mitchell.
Customer aggression also reflects the poor attitude that some in the UK have towards the service industry. 'People see retail staff as having non-jobs,' said Usdaw's Paul Clarke. 'So they behave in a way they wouldn't behave anywhere else.' He added: 'There seems to be part of our culture that has lost any respect for public service.'
Source: The Guardian, TUC Risks
