Work Related Violence: What you can do
Reporting
Violence should never be dismissed as "just part of the job". Abuse towards a worker is always unacceptable, and should never be tolerated. Any worker who is unfortunate enough to be a victim of verbal or physical abuse is strongly encouraged to report the incident, whether to their employer, or where appropriate the Police or the Health and Safety Executive.
Model report form
Use a simple report form or adapt a more detailed model report form with guidance to your own needs to measure the number of verbal and/or physical assaults on staff to help plan for the future. Customers who become abusive are likely to do it again and there may be trends you can plan for, such as specific times of the year, days of the week, or common operational situations etc. Only by recording what is actually happening, can an accurate picture of the levels of violence occurring in different workplaces be measured, and any particular factors which might contribute to such incidents identified.
Employees
Employees who are concerned about being abused at work, should find out whether there is a workplace policy in place. Is there a system for reporting and recording incidents of violence? Does your employer provide training opportunities to better prepare you for dealing with workplace aggression?
"Know Your Rights - Under health and safety law you have both rights and responsibilities. You have a right to be able to work in a safe environment where risks to your health and wellbeing are considered and dealt with effectively.
Download all you need to know to risk assess in your workplace for verbal and physical abuse and provide evidence to take to your employer by linking to the TUC Know Your Rights Checklist on Violence in the workplace.