Print this pageVIOLENCE AT WORK UPDATE
I am writing to update you on 3 recent initiatives to help protect members from violence in their workplace.
1. Violence At Work Survey 2010
Attached is a link to UNISON’s 2010 Violence at Work survey carried out under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act. The report was launched at our recent Health & Safety Conference held on 22 October. The report showed that more than 28,000 public sector employees were violently assaulted or threatened at their work during the past year. UNISON believes that this is an unacceptable situation and would urge all branches, along with their safety representatives to do all in their power to address this problem, which is growing year by year.
http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/safety/Violence update survey October 2010.pdf
2. Managing Occupational Violence and Aggression in the Workplace
The information we received in our earlier surveys showed that councils in particular had very poor procedures for recording and monitoring the level of assaults in their authorities. This led UNISON, together with the STUC and CoSLA to establish a working group, under the auspices of the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives to examine the issues and make recommendations to local authorities to implement more robust recording and monitoring systems for assaults to their staff. In February of this year the working party’s report was published. The guidelines, entitled, “Managing Occupational Violence and Aggression in the Workplace” is a comprehensive toolkit for identifying and analysing violence and aggression, monitoring and assessing risks, and, through the appendices, provides checklists, model reporting forms, advice, fact sheets, etc. These are all designed to ensure that the most robust systems are in place so that any risks to staff are prevented or minimised, through training, use of the advice sheets and accurate reporting and monitoring.
Whilst the guidelines are aimed particularly at local authorities, having been endorsed and signed off by CoSLA, the information and guidance contained in them are applicable to all employers.
All branches should seek discussions with their employers in the most appropriate forum, to examine violence policies and procedures currently in place to ensure that they are up to date and that the latest advice and recommendations are contained in them. Violence against employees must be a regular item for discussion in Health & Safety Committees and reports regularly scrutinised to ensure that lessons are learned from each incidence of violence.
3. Protection of Workers (Scotland) Bill
As you will be aware, UNISON was instrumental in pursuing legislation through the Scottish Parliament to protect Emergency Workers. The Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act, 2006 made it a specific offence to attack or hinder an emergency worker in performance of their duties. At the time UNISON argued that the Act should not just cover the traditional “Blue Light” services of Police, Fire-fighters and Ambulance personnel and we were successful in having all workers in acute hospitals included in the list of those to whom the Act would apply. To date over 800 members of the public have been successfully prosecuted under the Act.
However, this still leaves many thousands of our members who are not protected, such as social workers, parking attendants, environmental workers, health service staff working in the community, classroom assistants and many others. It is for this reason that UNISON supports a private members bill in the Scottish Parliament proposed by Hugh Henry, MSP. The private members bill gained sufficient support to proceed and is at the first stage in the Scottish Parliament as the Protection of Workers (Scotland) Bill. If successful the Bill will make it an offence for a member of the public to assault a public sector worker carrying out their job or because of the job they do.
However a majority of MSPs on the Committee considering the Bill (SNP, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives) voted against it proceeding. We will therefore need to persuade all MSPs to support it when it is debated in the chamber early next year.
UNISON, in conjunction with the STUC, is launching a campaign in support of the Bill. To assist with this, I am attaching copy of a postcard, which is to be signed and sent to MSPs. We will also be contacting your Health & Safety Officers and stewards so that they can join in the campaign. There will be specific pages on the UNISON Scotland website which can be clicked on for messages to go to MSPs and to download materials for use in the campaign. (http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/safety/index.html)
This will be a very important piece of legislation for our members and will give another layer of protection in our fight against violence.
Please do all you can to publicise the Bill and take part in our campaign.
Using a variety of methods: publicity, advice, legislation we can tackle this unnecessary burden on our members. Please make every effort to take up the recommendations contained in this letter and assist the campaign.
Thank you
Yours sincerely
DAVE WATSON
Scottish Organiser
