Sharp rise in attacks on council workers
DONCASTER Council staff are increasingly falling victim to attacks and threats, new figures show.
A report by the authority's emergency planning and safety manager, Paul Reed, warns of a "sharp rise" in the number of accidents and aggressive and violent behaviour incidents reported by workers.
Adult services workers, neighbourhoods and communities employees and school staff dealing with children's bad behaviour are described as particularly at risk and need more support from their managers, he said in an official report.
Figures show workers and visitors to council buildings experiencing violent and aggressive behaviour have increased from 1,254 in 2008/09 to 1,579 in 2009/10. Staff in the adult services, children's services, development, neighbourhood and communities, resources and schools departments, as well as St Leger Homes' workers reported 444 incidents in the last year - compared to 368 in 2008/09.
Mr Reed said: "It must be emphasised that many council officers will always face the potential for violence and aggression in the course of their duties.
"It is the responsibility of line managers to recognise and identify the scale and nature of the problem which will then enable appropriate measures to be undertaken to minimise the risk to council officers during the performance of their work duties."
The document is part of the council's joint safety committee's quarterly accident and incident statistics update which summarises incidents from 2006.
The report also said there had also been a rise in accidents in the workplace increasing from 398 in 2006/07 to 486 during 2009/10.
A further 474 incidents involving visitors to council buildings were logged this year - compared to 301 in 2006/07.
The top three causes of accidents were slips, trips and falls, incidents involving tools, machinery and equipment and manual handling.
The report will be discussed at the meeting of the Employee Relations Committee which takes place at the Mansion House from 1pm on Monday.
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