The
TUC is urging employers to help reduce the number of people who are attacked or
assaulted in the workplace.
It
has published new guidance for safety representatives to help negotiate with
employers to help prevent violent attacks in the workplace.
According
to the most recent figures 1.3 million people a year are attacked at work with
assaults growing by around five per cent each year.
The
TUC guidelines encourage firms to recognise the problem and introduce training
and other measures to reduce the levels
of violence at work. The new publication hopes to persuade businesses to:
–
Recognise the problem
–
Encourage staff to report threats and attacks
–
Take a series of steps to manage the risk including training, providing alarms
and redesign of the workplace.
The
advice for the UK’s 200,000 workplace safety reps also covers the method for
reporting and investigating an injury, the use of personal protective equipment
and how to protect staff who work alone.
TUC
general secretary John Monks called for unions and employers to work in
partnership to combat the problem which he said was bad for business:
"Violence at work is distressing, dangerous and bad for business. Ignoring
the problem won’t make it go away, so we want unions and employers to get tough
with violence and tough on the causes of violence," he said.
