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The father of a woman killed by a former co-worker who stalked her has called on employers to do more to ensure workplace safety, as a survey revealed that almost a third of workers had experienced violence, aggression or abuse in the last year.
The charity behind the research described the findings as “shocking and unacceptable”, as they called for “stronger laws, better training and a shift from a culture of tolerance to a culture of accountability” when it comes to workplace safety.
Suzy Lamplugh The survey, conducted by the Trust, found that one in five employees (20%) feel at risk of violence at work and almost a third (31%) have experienced at least one incident in the last year.
The most common behavior was verbal abuse (21%), followed by bullying or intimidation (14%).
About 3% of people reported experiencing physical harassment and a similar percentage said they faced sexual harassment or assault.
Charity – named after estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, who disappeared at the age of 25 and was later declared dead, believed to have been murdered, after leaving the West London office to meet a mysterious client in 1986 – “calling for a co-ordinated national effort to ensure that every worker, in every sector, can go to work knowing that they will return home safely”.
Suki Bhakar, chief executive of the Trust, said: “Every statistic in this report represents a person who has experienced violence or abuse or felt unsafe, unsupported and unheard at work. The scale of violence against frontline workers is both shocking and unacceptable.
“Workplace violence is not inevitable and must be stopped. Our research shows what needs to change: stronger laws, better training, and a shift from a culture of tolerance to a culture of accountability.
“The time for half measures is over. We need a co-ordinated national effort to ensure that every worker in every sector can go to work knowing they will return home safe.”
Richard Spinks, father of Gracie Spinks Former colleague Michael Sellers, who was killed in 2021 after becoming “obsessed” with her, has also backed the Trust’s call.
Miss Spinks described feeling “concerned and frightened” by the actions of Sellers in a complaint to her workplace several months earlier, after he was believed to have stabbed her to death as she was tending her horse in a field and then took his own life.
The 23-year-old told her workplace that she was “uncomfortable” around Sellers and thought his actions were “creepy.”
After he was reported for stalking by Miss Spinks, who refused to pursue a romantic relationship with him, he was eventually dismissed for misconduct in relation to his behavior towards her.
Mr Spinks said: “No parent should have to endure what our family has endured. Gracie trusted the people she worked with, and her employer had a duty to protect her from harm.
“When obvious risks are ignored or security systems fail, accountability cannot stop at an individual. It must extend to the organizations that allowed those failures to occur.
,employers Responsibility must be taken every day, not just after the fact, to prevent harmful behaviors and ensure workplaces are safe.
The Trust is demanding that the loopholes in the current law be closed, thereby ensuring protection from harassment by third parties, including clients or customers; Creation of a health and safety framework to deal with all forms of violence and abuse at work; and mandatory recording and reporting of all incidents of violence, aggression and gender-based abuse in the workplace.
Baroness Carmen Smith described the survey results as “truly shocking” and said they show that “the UK legal framework is seriously lacking and is clearly failing to protect workers from violence in the workplace”.
He promised to introduce amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill, which will return to the Lords next week, regarding harassment and violence in the workplace as a health and safety issue and placing a duty on employers to protect their staff.
She said: “No employee should feel at risk of violence at work. UK.” Government “We must and can act now.”
A government spokesperson said: “Violence or harassment in the workplace is completely unacceptable, it has no place in our society, and we expect any employer to take a zero tolerance approach wherever it is found.
“Our Employment Rights Bill would amend the Equality Act 2010 by strengthening protections for workers, requiring employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees, including by third parties, and placing a duty on employers not to allow their employees to be harassed by third parties.”
:: YouGov conducted an online survey of 1,003 adults in the retail, hospitality, health care and transportation sectors in September.