this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2023

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140

Tesco workers offered body cameras as violent attacks against employees soar (www.independent.co.uk)

submitted 10 months ago by thehatfox to c/[email protected]

37 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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[–] [email protected] 42 points 10 months ago (3 children)

"Mr Murphy write in the Mail on Sunday that a law should be introduced to make abuse or violence towards retail workers an offence in its own right across the UK"

Is brandishing a knife at someone not already an offense?

Surely the problem is a shameful lack of policing and more people falling into poverty following 15 years of tory rule. how is creating an offense out of something that is already an offense going to change anything?

[–] DarthBueller 9 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Seriously. Emulating the USA’s criminal “policies” is stupid, and I live here. Next thing he’s going to suggest all your cops have guns, and then suddenly you’ll have black market firearms everywhere.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Every police officer in Northern Ireland has firearms and there's no issue

[–] DarthBueller 1 points 10 months ago

Or Tesco can cough up the dough for security guards like they used to, before Tesco made them “redundant” and replaced them with apparently ineffective technology as others have mentioned.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

If you think that's even slightly likely to be suggested, you don't know UK society at all. There's no gun culture or people arguing for them to be brought back to society at all here.

[–] DarthBueller 2 points 10 months ago

Yup. Please chill and enjoy being better than the US in ways that you failed to appreciate when you brexited.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

No need for new laws here, the current laws should just be actaully enforced.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

If, as a giant corporate entity, your employees are getting wide spread abuse, you need to look at your company and assess why so much anger exists. The problem is likely rooted in Tesco treating it's customers like shit whilst they are living through an economic crisis.

Yes, somebody who snaps and draws a weapon is ultimately in the wrong, but with the numbers of customers Tesco has there was always a good chance somebody would snap.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

When you say "treating their customers like shit", how do you mean? I get that the rapidly raising prices for a weekly shop are going to annoy people, especially if their income isn't raising at the same rate, but that's happening across the board and the average Tesco worker has no control over inflation. Maybe the queues may be long some times of day but thats a decision you make as to when to go shopping.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

I mean, Tesco and others are being scrutinized for price increases beyond those justified by increased costs of of manufacturing. They harvest their customer's data, or make them pay more. They discontinue larger "bulk" size of goods, forcing people to buy smaller more expensive sizes.

I've now found that the difference between a Tesco shop and a Waitrose shop (the other one I have locally) has become much smaller, and I get higher quality produce. Asda, Lidl and Aldi are much more worth the trip now.

In my opinion Tesco have used Inflation as an excuse to go to town on price rises.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Used to work in a pretty sizable Sainsbury's up until last year. I never dealt with physical abuse from a customer, but I did hear about a fair bit of it, especially from the female members of staff.

Customers would come in and start being incredibly inappropriate to them. You'd hear that one customer had patted them on the bottom, or grabbed their hand. One customer would routinely come in and start trying to kiss my partner's hand (we worked together). You report this behaviour to management and at best it's laughed off.

Don't even get me started on the behaviour some customers think they're entitled to push on staff who are unfortunate enough to have to do reductions in the evening; grabbing, pushing, shouting, you name it, it's done. Management are adamant it has to be done on the shop floor though, why? You tell me.

Ultimately what I'm trying to say is that a lot of these sort of things might be less prominent if management came out and backed their colleagues when a customer was showing signs of being a t*at. Fitting them with cameras makes it look like another profit protection measure.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

These are criminal acts right? Why are they even being escalated through management, shouldn't they just go to the police directly?

Manager here's a copy of the police report for what happened last night, when I was assaulted while stocking shelves. Doesn't really give them any wiggle room

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

My thought exactly. Date and time. Report to police. Police obtain video of criminal. Court time ensues.

[–] LastSprinkles 5 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Fitting them with cameras makes it look like another profit protection measure.

I was nodding along till here. Wouldn't fitting employees with body cameras making it easier to prosecute the criminals? Lack of evidence is probably the issue in most cases.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Because in my experience (15 years of supermarket work) I've never seen anything get treated as importantly as they treat profit protection.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Sorry, I'm being dense this Sunday. How does this protect profit? Surely fitting employees with body cams eats into your profit as it is a cost?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Customers are significantly less likely to try and pocket something if there's a risk of them being called up on it, or actually caught on camera.

Even if they never actually catch anyone, the fact that people can see the cameras would likely serve as a deterrent.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Is that not a good thing? Less chance of criminal activity, less chance of getting stabbed whilst stacking shelves?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Absolutely. I just find it a bit....much when they try to label this as a means to protect staff when everything they do signals that isn't their main motive.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Gotcha. I understand your point of view, I just think maybe they can do both? Protect their liability against being sued for safety on the workplace and at the same time reduce the risk of their employees getting hurt.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yeah that's all we ask. I understand why they want to ensure products aren't being stolen, but I also feel like they could be doing significantly more to ensure colleagues aren't being intimidated and assaulted.

Of course, the best way for staff to feel safer is if customers stopped being absolutely dickheads, but we seem to be going on the wrong way on that front.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Oh man, I can imagine. I don't understand what goes through some people's heads.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I've seen the mad fight for the reduced products in a Tesco once. People are mental about it, to save a few bob at best.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

My partner does the reductions on a Friday evening and there's a guy who basically walks around the shop for two hours in anticipation. My dude...

[–] [email protected] 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I went to Asda not long after lockdown had lifted the first time and said something standard to the lady on the checkout like "long day?" and she looked at me with hollow eyes and told me that when she'd told a woman they'd run out of toilet roll the customer spat in her face. Some people are the worst.

[–] Transcendant 14 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Sometimes you can tell the checkout asst is just fucking done having the same basic conversation 100x and wants to scan silently, but I always try and inject a bit of happiness into their day if they've not fallen mute. Working any public-facing retail job is bloody awful... speaking from personal experience, I used to temp at Toys R Us at christmas and let me tell you, there's no more entitled creature than a parent at christmas who has left it too late to get this years most popular toy.

BUT *MYYYYY * CHIIIIIILD

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago (1 children)

If someone is already assaulting a member of staff, what stops them just stealing the camera?

Call me cynical, but it sounds like a disguise for a profit protection thing.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

You're not even allowed to carry OC spray in the UK, so I'm guessing it's for "identification" of the probably-masked attacker after he has his way with the employee.

[–] SmellyHamWallet 13 points 10 months ago (2 children)

After 1900 our Tesco local has their doors locked and you have to be let in. Why are people such pricks. I work on the railway and someone threatened to stab me over a £4 ticket the other day. I just fucking hate people.

[–] theo 7 points 10 months ago

Must be a pretty old Tesco to be still going after 123 years!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Crime goes up when desperation levels go up. People are desperate. Agreed, it's wrong that it puts you in danger, but you are the face of the corporation they are angry at. It's misdirected anger.

I hope you give your employers an earful for putting you in that vulnerable position.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

They'd be told to look for work elsewhere.

But in a less polite manner.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Well if your employer is putting you in danger, that might be a good outcome. You probably have a good employment law case.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

Honestly, how long until all of us are wearing body cameras so we have accurate evidence of what is happening?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The video in that article is wild, what the actual fuck

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Welp 😥.

Fucking hell I'd be petrified. That mad lad can just have the chocolate hobnobs, they aren't worth it...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Ik someone who works in Sainsbury's and she wears a bodycamera