Work-related violence and aggression
Our award winning, impactful training including our forum theatre and immersive workshops are especially powerful when it comes to practicing defusing and managing, aggression, harassment, threatening behaviour, abuse and immediate violence.
Latest figures from retail, the NHS, British Transport Police and several Unions show that not only is the number of incidents increasing, but equally as worrying, the level of aggression used against staff is getting worse.
In 2018, 94.1% of frontline railway staff had experienced work-related violence with 25.6% experiencing Physical Assaults. – Railways Safety and Standards Board (RSSB)
Incidents of violence and abuse against retail workers increased by 50 per cent to 1,300 a day in the year to September 2023. – British Retail Consortium (BRC)
All employers have a specific responsibility to reduce and manage the risks to their staff (and volunteers) and this includes the risk of work-related violence and aggression.
We can help you to consider, assess and mitigate the risks to your staff in a practical and realistic way. We can also provide support and training to your colleagues to help them put in place measures to avoid and manage the risks of aggression and violence from clients or the general public.
How can we help?
We will tailor to the needs of your business and your colleagues. We always like to have a chat (either virtually or in person) with your key stakeholders to discover your challenges before we provide you with our best ideas and options. At this point we will discuss the choices with you and agree on both the method of delivery and the content before finalising the workshops content.
Nicole Vazquez was part of the project team who developed the national training programme on reducing work related violence against rail staff (SWeRVe II) for the Railways Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) More recently Worthwhile Training were asked to provide national guidance for front line colleagues on managing violence and aggression within the rail industry on behalf of the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) and the RSSB. We are proud to have helped organisations across many sectors to significantly reduce the level of aggression and violence towards their staff.
Well Respected
We are well respected for our innovations in training and many clients find our Forum Theatre (scenario led) workshops invaluable when it comes to preparing colleagues to manage difficult situations. With the help of our talented actor facilitators, we are able to bring situations to life in the room and offer an opportunity for learners to test the theories and reflect on their own practices.
Workshops may include:
- Defining aggression and drawing the line between tolerable and unacceptable behaviour
- Dynamic Risk Assessments using our PET Assessment© model
- Personal, Situational and Behavioural Awareness
- Recognising the warning signs of aggression and violence
- Understanding our threat response and learning to Respond not React
- De-escalation techniques and using verbal and non-verbal communication skills, appropriate assertiveness and calming strategies
- Ways to exit threatening situations and call for back up and support in a safe and professional manner.
- Non-physical intervention techniques to protect personal space and exits in aggressive situations and help colleagues stay safe.
- The law governing self protection and self defence
- The importance and value of reporting and gaining support
What our clients say…
Worthwhile have gone above and beyond to get to know us. Even now they remember colleagues and managers by name and have often offered a more personalised and bespoke support. They also have developed an ability to work within our logistical constraints in delivering effective learning.
Richard Green – Learning and Development Manager – Great Western Railway