02/02/2004

100,000 people are victims of drunken violence at work

More than 100,000 people have been the victim of drink-fuelled violence at work, according to the British Crime Survey (BCS).

The report shows that around 376,000 workers had experienced at least one incident of violence at work last year – and in a third of those incidents, victims said that the offender was under the influence of alcohol.

Workers on the frontline such as health care staff and police officers were most at risk of violence at work, while science and technology workers were least at risk.

Overall, the number of people experiencing violence at work fell by 27% since 1999.

The government has provided £15 million over three years to help small retailers tackle violence and improve crime prevention and the Health and Safety Executive has published guidelines for employers on how to help protect their staff from violence while at work.

The government will also soon be announcing new measures to combat alcohol-related violence in the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy.

Elsewhere, a major study by National Economic Research Associates (NERA) on behalf of the Greater London Authority has estimated that 1.68 million working days are lost in London every year due to alcohol. This is almost 10% of the total working days lost due to sickness in London and costs the London economy £294 million.

(gmcg)

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