Combating violence against retail workers

The HSE has published an online toolkit to help cut the risk of work-related violence towards shop workers. The guidance tells employers: “Wherever possible, make sure you have at least adequate staffing levels for surveillance and to meet customer demands.” Employers are also told they should “consult the union’s health and safety representatives”. The guidance adds: “Representatives will consult members, which can help you work together to identify issues and create strategies to reduce risks of violence.”

In practice, the downgrading of retail premises as “low risk” workplaces and the removal of the threat of proactive unannounced inspection by an external regulator (see Enforcement — Chapter 2) means that such premises are likely to become less safe and levels of threats of violence and intimidation towards retail workers are likely to continue to increase.

The Community union has called for an urgent review of safety and security in the betting industry following the murder at work on 25 May 2013 of Ladbrokes betting shop manager Andrew Iacovou in south London.

Community general secretary Michael Leahy has written to employment minister Mark Hoban MP calling for him to convene a meeting of the Safe Bet Alliance. This brings together industry and company representatives with Community and other industry stakeholders including the police. In 2010 it launched a Voluntary Code of Safety and Security. “Community saw the Code as a positive first step to improving security and safety in betting shops and the approach yielded encouraging results, most notably a significant reduction in gun-enabled robberies in London betting shops. While much was done at that time to raise standards in the industry this latest tragedy highlights that there is still much ground for us to travel,” said Leahy.