ACS has welcomed new guidelines to help protect retail employees from violence in the workplace.
ACS and USDAW, the shopworkers union, are supporting the revised British Retail Consortium guidelines Tackling violence against staff that aims to help retailers of all sizes improve staff protection and make it clear that abuse from customers should not be considered ‘part of the job.’ They demonstrate the extent of action being taken by retailers to keep staff safe, from safety-conscious design of the working environment to conflict management training and having effective procedures for when an incident occurs.
Crime Prevention Minister Norman Baker said: “Everyone has the right to feel safe at work and the National Retail Crime Steering Group, which I co-chair with the British Retail Consortium, considers violence against retailers to be a high priority.
“The government supports the publication of these guidelines today, which we hope will help retailers better protect themselves and their staff and educate shop workers in how to diffuse potential flashpoints. We also hope this guidance will improve crime reporting rates which we know are under reported. We will not tolerate violence towards shop workers, and have been very clear that the courts can take into account violence against those serving the public as an aggravating factor in considering the appropriate sentence.”
ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “Violence against staff and retailers is unacceptable but still a huge problem with 51% of convenience retailers reporting some experience of violence or verbal abuse in the last year. We are supporting this guidance document to aid retailers to mitigate violence in their business and support staff.”
Helen Dickinson, Director General of the British Retail Consortium, said: “Retailers invest considerable time and resources in building and training their teams as well as protecting their workers, stock and property. Our guidelines are designed to help businesses of all sizes share and understand best practice in preventing staff from being attacked or abused. “
Last week, ACS launched a report highlighting the impact that crime has on convenience stores. The Crime Report showed that shop theft alone cost the sector an estimated £44m last year.
