- Conference
- 2024 Local Government Service Group Conference
- Date
- 23 February 2024
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes the significant increase in workplace violence and aggression against our members, everyone has the right to a world of work free from violence and harassment, including gender-based violence. We urgently need action to strengthen legal protections, employer actions and enforcement activity to better protect workers exposed to violence and aggression.
There has been a significant increase in violent incidents among our members across Scotland, particularly in Education and Social Work services.
The UNISON Scotland 2023 Workplace Violence report, highlights:
1) The report registered a total of 54,684 violent incidents taking place against public service staff in the year to 31 March 2023;
2) The total number of violent incidents was 31% higher in 2023 than the previous year, with an additional 12,931 violent incidents reported;
3) Almost two thirds of the total in 2023 (65%) involve violence against local authority staff;
4) Violent incidents against council staff rose by over 50% year on year;
5) Schools and nurseries account for between 80-98% of all violent incidents reported by councils in 2023 with most of these involving education support staff such as Pupil Support Assistants.
The report also indicates clear issues with incident reporting procedures, lack of awareness and proper policies, and lack of up-to-date training and development for staff in these vital areas, including lack of proper de-briefs for staff following a violent incident.
The need to have accurate and reliable systems for reporting all violence against public sector workers remains. Without this, truly effective measures to overcome and eliminate the problem will not happen. This year’s findings highlight continued inconsistencies in reporting by public service employers, including amongst registered social landlords, who were part of our survey for the first time. The differences in reported violence are significant and due to the absence of/or inconsistency in recording of incidents by employers.
The lack of proper enforcement action by the HSE is also a major concern. The impact of cuts to public services and cost cutting measures has led to more violent incidents across all the sectors our members work in. We expect employers to be doing more to tackle these issues.
Conference acknowledges the vital work done by our Branches to tackle workplace violence and harassment, the work on the violence charter and campaigns by service groups on National strategies around violence & safety at work. Government & the HSE are not doing enough.
We call upon the SGE to lobby the UK Government and the health and safety regulators to fully recognise the issues including:
a) Effective inspection, enforcement and appropriate sanctions on employers who fail to protect workers;
b) HSE to prioritise inspections regarding violence against all staff as a priority for proactive inspections, and greater resources to be diverted to all proactive health and safety enforcement activity;
c) Consultation with trade unions on measures to tackle work related violence at both national and local level.
Update resources to support branches to organise around workplace violence and aggression; including specific guidance on:
i) De-briefing procedures;
ii) Challenging Risk Assessments;
iii) Incident Reporting;
iv) Training, instruction & supervision.