Hugh Henry a member of the Scottish Parliament is working towards bringing a Bill in the parliament which proposes tough penalties for assaults on shop workers. The proposed bill, named The Workers (Aggravated Offences) Bill, will be drafted by mid 2010.

Frontline workers providing emergency services are already protected with the help of The Emergency Workers Act 2005 where tough penalties are imposed on public assaulting such workers or not allowing them to do their work. The present Bill aims to have similar penalties for assault on shop workers and other such general workers. For this, the assault by the public on shop workers has to be categorised as aggravated crime and then such an action will automatically attract tough penalty.

Henry feels that incidences of assault on shop workers who have face-to-face interaction with the public are quite common and although their condition has improved a lot needs to be done. This bill is being supported by many unions like USDAW, Unite, Unison, CWU etc. The USDAW has started a campaign to demand a similar law to protect the workers in England and Wales.

The General Secretary of USDAW John Hannett said that one in ten workers faces abuse and assault from the public and like emergency workers these workers too should be protected by a tough law.

Protecting the health and safety of employees is an essential part of risk management. The

health and safety consultants from Workplace Law can assist managers and supervisors in all they need to know to help handle health and safety in their teams, and to help their organisation find the best ways to lead and promote health and safety, and therefore meet its legal obligations.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 10:16 am and is filed under Living With Telecommunication, Shoppers Advice, Technology Hall. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.