The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) made the call ahead of a debate in the House of Lords today, which will consider whether to amend the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill and create a specific offence of assaulting workers serving the public.
According to Usdaw research, 4% of shop workers in the UK were assaulted over the past year, amounting to 112,000 assaults.
Lord Foulkes, who tabled the amendment, said Parliament had a duty to protect workers whose job it was to enforce Parliamentary laws.
“Workers often can’t make the same choices we do to stay safe,” he said. “Most of us would not choose to be out at night surrounded by high value goods and cash, but shop workers don’t have a choice.
“We wouldn’t hang around in A&E on a Friday night offering to help aggressive and abusive drunks, but doctors, nurses and ancillary staff don’t have a choice.
“We have plenty of examples of the assailants of shop workers getting lenient sentences, often not even custodial. By passing this amendment, Parliament will be saying very clearly that assaulting a worker is a serious matter and it will lead to stiffer sentences.”
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health’s (IOSH) policy division research and information services manager, Jane White, said employers were already obliged to protect workers “as is reasonably practicable”.
White said IOSH would like to see better sentencing for people involved in attacks on workers. She also recommended employers protect their staff by providing training on de-escalation techniques, installing security monitoring and CCTV, and avoiding placing staff in lone-working situations.
“We know research to have shown that building layout and design can help, for example, in hospital waiting areas,” she added.
Usdaw general secretary John Hannett said he hoped the Lords debate would give workers “the recognition and support they deserve”.
“We want a change in the law to ensure that proper punishments are given out and to give a clear message that assaulting workers who are serving the public is totally unacceptable,” he said.
