TUC WORKER ABUSE AND VIOLENCE AT WORK SURVEY

TUC WORKER ABUSE AND VIOLENCE AT WORK SURVEY

Dear Colleagues,

The TUC is currently running a survey on abuse and violence at work and are planning to publish the results at a one-day TUC event on Friday 17^thApril.

The TUC are aiming to capture as many worker experiences as possible.

You can find and participate in the survey here: https://tinyurl.com/TUCViolenceSurvey

Why it matters.

The CWU recently attended the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health public evidence session on workplace violence on Monday 26 January 2026, key findings from this session are detailed below.

• 17% rise in assaults on rail workers in the last year

RMT warns of surge in violence against rail workers while BTP presence cut – rmt

• The USDAW ‘Freedom of Fear’ Campaign recently identified that 77% of shopworkers have reported experiencing verbal abuse with 53% being threatened by a customer.

USDAW – Freedom from Fear Campaign

• Unite the Union- Identified there has been a big upsurge in physical assaults and hate crimes against drivers on duty just in the London boroughs alone during 2024-2025. 

Unite calls for action on ‘disgraceful’ London bus driver assaults – BBC News

• Other information presented referenced the Australian Council of Trade unions findings shown a strong correlation to increases in violent behaviour, during extreme weather events with community-facing workers often bearing the brunt.

ACTU’s policy recommendations

There is ongoing campaigning work by the Suzy Lamplugh trust, raising awareness that lone working is increasing in the UK and violent attacks on lone workers are increasing too. There are now approximately 8.8million Lone Workers in the UK.

Personal Safety & Lone Working advice and information

The above link allows access to several guides from The Suzy Lamplugh trust on how individuals can help reduce their own risk of harassment, violence, or aggression and how to effectively assess and mitigate situations that can lead to aggressive or violent behaviours.

In 2025 The CWU also took part in Sheffield University’s centre for decent work collaborative research in into ‘last mile’ parcel delivery workers. Information was gathered from over 1,500 parcel delivery drivers and this research identified that stress within the sector is huge across all parcel companies. It was notable that there were several comments over the rise in violence against workers, person on person assault, animal attacks and vehicle assaults are more common than realised.

The worry expressed at this meeting was that verbal or ‘minor’ physical abuse often goes by unreported and as such is just tolerated by public facing delivery drivers as being part of the job.

Researchers, trade unionists, politicians, and policy experts come together to reflect on Centre for Decent Work research | Centre for Decent Work | The University of Sheffield

Findings from the TUC worker abuse and violence at work survey will be published in a follow-up LTB.

The CWU are also looking to present ‘Pan CWU’ evidence at the TUC event on Friday 17^th April and colleagues can contribute to this evidence by completing the short CWU survey below.

CWU Public-Facing Worker Safety, Violence & Abuse Survey – Fill out form

This LTB is shared on behalf of CWU Central Services.

If you have any questions or need any further information, please contact-

Jamie McGovern FRSPH MIIAI 

CWU Health & Safety Policy Assistant at jmcgovern@cwu.org

LTB 098/26 – TUC Worker violence survey

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