ANY WORK that involves face-to-face contact with the public is not easy and all the signs are that shop work, in particular, is becoming more demanding, more difficult and, worryingly, more dangerous.

Between 1995 and 2002, more than 118,000 retail staff were victims of physical abuse, about 250,000 staff were threatened with physical violence, and incidents of verbal abuse were estimated at more than 500,000 for that same period. Employers, unions and the police all agree that the problem is getting worse. Those figures were taken from a report by the British Retail Consortium, and are probably an underestimate because many incidents are not recorded.

The Co-op’s annual crime survey, published last September, revealed an alarming rise of 39 per cent in physical assaults against its staff compared with the previous year. The Co-op informs me that since September 2003, in local stores in and around Lowestoft in my constituency, there have been at least nine incidents of assault against the staff of Anglia Co-op, often by offenders who have drink or drugs-related problems.

The government has quite rightly put great emphasis on cutting street crime, but one unfortunate consequence is that persistent offenders are increasingly targeting shops instead. Many are drug addicts who steal to fund their habit and are prone to aggression and violence if confronted. The Tesco store in Lowestoft town centre, for example, has all too often experienced incidents of violence and verbal abuse. Six months ago a girl detained in the store for theft threatened to bite and scratch the manager, telling him that she had HIV and that if she managed to scratch or bite him she would transfer it to him. During the Christmas period a boy entered the store waving a knife, causing the store to be evacuated. It is now all too common for staff to receive verbal abuse, to be threatened with a weapon – be it a knife or a walking stick – or even to be spat at.

Community pharmacies are also on the frontline, with staff having to deal with numerous drug-taking customers. The real answer, as we know, is to overcome the drug problem and tackle crime at its root, but that is easier said than done and will take a long time. We must give far more consideration to the welfare of our shop workers, who today bear much too much of the brunt of the problem.

The effect on staff who have suffered violence can of course be devastating, but even when the physical injuries are slight the mental scarring from being involved in or witnessing an incident can result in serious health problems. Post-traumatic stress disorder, for example, can take some time to develop. There are several examples of staff being bitten by suspect-ed shoplifters, or stabbed with syringes when they try to intervene. Sometimes, although the physical injuries are superficial, the uncertainty undergone by the
shop worker concerning the risk of infection with hepatitis or HIV, and the need to keep going for regular blood tests and treatment, can be extremely stressful. Even when staff have not directly experienced an incident, they can suffer from ill health purely as a result of the fear of violence and abuse.

This, of course, also damages the industry itself. Employees living under the shadow of fear can become demotivated and miss work, particularly certain shifts that might be vulnerable. Days can be lost through sickness absence, and it is on record that some experienced and skilled staff are now leaving the industry.   That same stress and anxiety can also have an impact on family life if staff take their fears home with them.

Plenty of legislation applies to the risk from violence at work and the problem of violence and abuse towards shop workers is substantially covered by it. However, there is a difficulty regarding its implementation.
 
The problem was highlighted by the Health and Safety Commission in its publication, A strategy for workplace health and safety in Great Britain to 2010 and beyond, which states that there is “no lasting logic” to the current division of enforcement responsibility between local authorities and the HSE, describing them as “complex, confusing and based on boundaries and approaches that suit more the convenience of the regulator than the needs of business or the workforce”.

But it is not just the relationship between local authorities and the HSE that is complex; it is also the relationship with the police, retailers and the employees themselves.

There is a real need for the government to look seriously at the problem and to see where the legislation, and its enforcement, is really working, and where it is not. All the relevant bodies must come together in a fully joined-up approach – and that is just not happening at the moment.

So, although much of the legislation is in place, we need greater promotion of the tools that the legislation provides. We need an overall framework, focused on people such as shop workers who come into direct contact with the public, so that the necessary partnerships between the relevant bodies and the businesses actually work in combating these awful crimes against those who serve us.

Retail staff in the UK have suffered for long enough, and it is time to create a culture in which abuse and violence against shop workers is deemed wholly unacceptable.