Verbal and physical attacks are a common feature of work in the pubic services, it is claimed by unions.
UNISON says its members have described a fearsome arsenal of weapons and objects which they have faced during the last year – stones, bricks, planks of wood, hot drinks, chairs, walking frames, knives, snooker cues, hammers, bottles, cigarettes and airguns. With over 400,000 employees in health, education and social work in Scotland the frequency of verbal and physical attacks must be well in excess of 100,000. Measures such as risk assessments, safety policies and training are not used universally as they should be. These are among findings of Trauma 2003 – Violence to Public Service Workers report, by public sector union Unison in Scotland. In October 2002 UNISON adopted a six-point action plan for Zero Tolerance of Violence in the NHS. The aim now is to extend these principals throughout Scottish public services.
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Scottish survey
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Almost exactly half of the Scottish survey respondents indicated that they went to work in fear of some form of violent incident. According to this survey men are more worried about violence than women. This is despite the fact that sexual harassment and related assaults are a major element within those incidents that take place. Questionnaire respondents reported 238 specific violent incidents which led to injuries. Of these, 34 were described as assaults leading to major injuries requiring medical assistance over and above first aid. If threats and verbal abuse are included, then at least half of the sample had personally experienced some form of attack in the previous 12 months. When applied to the overall UNISON membership in Scotland, this questionnaire suggests that something in the region of 50-70,000 UNISON members in the Scottish public services were victims of a verbal abuse or physical attack at work in the last year. On a national level, if the UNISON membership is typical of public sector workers generally then, with over 400,000 employees in health, education and social work in Scotland, the frequency of verbal abuse and physical attacks must be in excess of 100,000 per year. Thirty four people indicated that they had received a major injury in the last twelve months. Four of this group reported two major injuries. Just under one in 10 said they had received a minor injury in the last year. The total number of recorded injuries was 242. Nearly two thirds of those experiencing minor injuries (64pc) said they received no assistance from their employer in the aftermath of the assault. Eighty-three people said they had been threatened with a weapon. Of those, around half reported multiple incidents including two people who said they had lost count of the number of such incidents. The total number of cases where use of some form of weapon was threatened was 135. The weapons referred to included: stones, bricks, planks of wood, hot drinks, chairs, walking frames, knives, snooker cues, hammers, bottles, cigarettes and airguns.
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Verbal abuse
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At 49.5%, threats or verbal abuse is the type of incident that is most prevalent in Scotland with almost half of the survey experiencing such incidents at some time in the last year. Excluding those people who said verbal abuse was simply a daily event, the aggregate number of incidents where staff received threats or verbal abuse was 2018. Twenty six UNISON members reported racial harassment by members of the public, each person reporting at least one incident. Four people reported multiple incidents and the aggregate number of incidents reported by this group was 48. Fifty seven people (5pc) said they had been sexually harassed by members of the public. But this level of reporting doubles to over 12pc if we look at the level of sexual harassment among women. Of those who said they were sexually harassed, nearly three-quarters said they received no assistance from their employers after the incident.
