Violence and Aggression risk assessment in the Workplace

Your employees have the right to go about their work feeling safe and without the threat of violence and aggressive behaviour being directed towards them, this includes the threat of sexual harassment. With the new duty to prevent sexual harassment coming into play in October, you should take action to ensure that those under your charge are safe at work. 

As an employer you have a duty of care to the employees in your charge, and part of this means evaluating the threat of violence and aggression to your workforce. Whilst there might be a greater threat of violence and aggression in certain industries, for example hospitality, employers should still consider this type of risk assessment even if minimal elements of your business involve a public or customer facing element. 

Contact the Health and Safety experts at Croner today to discuss risk assessments and everything you need to be assured of legal compliance in line with Health and Safety legislation. Call today on 0808 501 6651.

What is a violence and aggression risk assessment? 

If there is a risk of, or factors that could cause, either violence, aggression or challenging behaviour, including sexual harassment, then you must conduct a risk assessment to identify the risks, help monitor, manage them and identify processes to mitigate them.

Conducting these kinds of risk assessments, when carried out properly, can help reduce the severity and frequency of violence and aggressive behaviour towards your team, as well as reduce the risk of being taken to an employment tribunal. 

What are the potential hazards and factors? 

You must identify the hazards and main factors, these can include:

• The work environment.
• The workplace, this can include access and exit points as well as public areas, layout and design. 
• Staffing levels and well as their experience and competence.
• Security precautions like alarms.
• Procedures; these can be emergency procedures or response procedures to an incident.

Hazards can also include personal factors such as: 

• Impatience and frustration (This can be due to waiting, lack of information or boredom).
• Anxiety (This could be attributed to lack of choice or lack of space).
• Resentment (This could be attributed to lack of rights).
• Inherent aggression and/ or mental instability.
• Substance use or misuse including alcohol as well as legal and illegal drugs.

There can also be circumstantial factors involved. These can involve:

• Late working, including evening and unsocial hours.
• Having to enforce legislation and or control admission.
• Working with crowds or in a crowded environment.
• Being a member of the emergency services.
• Cashing up or handling money or valuables.
• Using or transporting expensive or technological equipment.

Please note: This is not an exhaustive list.

Managing violence and aggression risks and factors 

Once you have identified the potential risks to staff from violence and aggression then you will need to implement suitable control measures, these can be split into four main categories: 

• Your workplace
• The work you do
• Training
• De-escalation techniques

Customer care control measures:

When developing customer care measures, you should be sure to analyse the way your business operates and ensure that your services don’t encourage the risk or promote violence and aggression from your clientele. 

You can do this by ensuring that your staff is at adequate levels for the time of day or week, and maintaining reasonable waiting times. If there are delays, then this should be communicated effectively. You should also communicate to customers their rights and responsibilities when it comes to using your services, such as proof-of-age schemes.

Your staff may also need to be trained in:

• Effective management of complaint and grievance handling.
• Effective de-escalation methods appropriate to their industry and environment.
• Their rights and responsibilities.
• Reporting processes.

You should also work with staff to ensure that they know their options are when they are confronted with situations that could potentially escalate.

As well as staff training you should ensure there are stress reduction factors in place, such as temperature and noise control as well as enough natural light and artificial and employ suitable waiting areas. 

Deterrent control measures

Deterrents should reduce the incentive or the potential for violence. Some potential control measures include utilising visible security systems like CCTV and alarms, and placing signs indicating that the premises is protected by said systems.

You can also provide service counters that act as a physical barrier to potential aggressors as well as removing any items that could be potentially used as a weapon.

If your business deals with cash on sight, then ensure that is not kept in the till overnight and to not cash up in public view. if possible, use electronic payment methods to reduce the amount of cash potentially on the premises.

Providing security in the working environment

There are certain environmental measures that you can take to ensure that the risk of violence and aggression is reduced in your workplace. Provide staff with well-lit areas that are easy to access and no secluded areas that could potentially double as a hiding place. This includes exterior areas like car parks etc. where staff (especially night staff) could be vulnerable.

If your employees rely on public transport and are due to finish late, then alternative or arranged transport should be provided to ensure that they are able to get home safely. You should ensure that employees who are working alone have support, especially if they are working in isolated conditions. 

For staff safety you should employ security measures, such as checking the credentials of on-site visitors and there should be designated staff only areas that require either an access code or key/card to access. You should ensure that designated keyholders are trained in the event of an emergency call out and that only members of staff have access to keys. 

Reporting an incident of violence and aggression

Unfortunately, there are times that workers face instances of violence and aggression despite all reasonable precautions being taken. If your staff ever experience an instance of work-related violence then you should provide them with appropriate support. You should also:

• Record and report the incident.
• Review the incident to ascertain whether additional controls are needed.

Under RIDDOR, employers must report certain workplace injuries, occupational diseases and dangerous incidents to the HSE. This includes instances of:

• Death.
• Specific injuries.
• Physical injury that renders inability to carry out normal duties for over 7 days.
• Specific occupational diseases
• Dangerous occurrences

Whilst you do not need to report any work-related injuries that result in a worker being unable to carry out their normal duties for more than 7 days, you must record it. 

When recording instances of violence and aggression towards your staff you should conduct the following:

• A thorough investigation to build an accurate picture of the events that transpired.
• Analyse the risks, triggers and potential ways to mitigate them.
• Show support to your workers and show that you take the incident and violence seriously. 

You should make a record of the incident in your company's accident book if you have one, alternatively you should create a report form and make these easily accessible for workers to fill out. Remember to record who was involved, what happened, and when the incident happened. 

Remember verbal abuse is still abuse, so this should be recorded as well. 

Support for workers experiencing violence and aggression in the workplace

No one comes to work to experience abuse, whether it be verbal, physical or the threat of physical. You should take all necessary steps to support your worker in the event that they encounter it whilst at work.

Consider the following:

• The workers experience of the incident will be subjective, as will the reaction to it
• Extent empathy as a compassionate approach is more likely to reduce suffering
• Offering external support such as counselling through an EAP service
• Ensure post-incident situations are supported by fully trained and qualified staff

If a worker exhibits the signs of stress and or poor mental health then additional action should be taken. 

Need further advice on violence and aggression risk assessments? 

Contact the Health and Safety advisory team at Croner for expert advice that is tailored to your business and specific needs.

Whether it’s advice on how to perform risk assessments or the best practice on incident reporting, Croner can advise, ensuring your business stays compliant with the latest Health and Safety legislation.

We’ve been advising businesses like yours on Health and Safety, HR and Employment Law for over 80 years, so call today on 0808 501 6651.