Local Government

Abuse of workers contributes to nation's £700 million stress-related costs

Abuse and attacks on local authority workers is now a priority issue for many local governments and trade unions.  Workers at risk include those in social services, housing officers, probation workers and specialist teaching staff.  With much of their work inherently linked with some of the country's highest crime regions, they must remain constantly vigilent.

Employers must meet legislative requirements which stipulate that precautions have to be taken in order to protect the health and safety of their employees.  Work-related violence is a major contributing factor to unhealthy stress levels that will seriously effect employers and employees alike; stress-related costs have been calculated at:

• £700 million annually to UK employers
• £7 billion to society
• An average number of 29 days per year taken off work

Local authority workers at risk include...

• Community Care Workers - Working with vulnerable groups in deprived areas can increase the risk of violence.
• Emergency Duty Teams - Often unaware of the situation in which they are about to enter. Working with vulnerable groups in deprived areas can increase the risk of violence.
• Environmental Officers - Often work alone in remote areas. At risk from violence as well as accidents at work.
• Housing Benefits Officers - Verbal and physical abuse from tenants, and those who reside in void properties (who could be under the influence of alcohol and other substances).
• Probation Officers - At a high risk of violence due to the nature of this work.
• Social Workers - Working with vulnerable groups in deprived areas can increase the risk of violence.
• Specialist Teaching staff - Often working in the homes of excluded children or those with special needs increases the risk of violence.
• Social Services teams - At a high risk of violence due to the nature of this work.
• Traffic Wardens - At a high risk of verbal and physical abuse from disgruntled members of the public.

SoloProtect benefits for the local government sector

• SoloProtect's 24 hour monitoring centre is always available to respond to any alert raised, whether to call out the police, alert colleagues or supervisors, or to simply archive audio recordings from the incident
• Recording of an attack can be used in support of any action that the organisation pursues, or as supporting evidence towards subsequent legal action taken by the police.
• A red alert can be raised discreetly by the user, without inflaming the situation as might occur if a mobile phone were to be used
• Using mobile phone technology, Identicom ensures support for community based workers regardless of where they are working.
• Identicom's amber alert functions works in conjunction with SoloProtect's monitoring centre to provide location and job recording functions to aid in any emergency
• Identicom can be promoted to have a visible deterrent effect to would-be assailants.
• SoloProtect will work with you, through its TotalCare support package, to provide assistance with every stage of the selection and implementation of a solution, through to training and proactive reporting to ensure correct usage by staff.
• Increased productivity of workers created by significantly reducing stress created through a ‘climate of fear’ within the working environment
• Significantly reducing potential costs from: sickness absenteeism, reduced productivity, replacement costs and additional retirement costs, and further costs due to damage in production or equipment as well as costs associated with grievance and litigation.