Peoplesafe urge action to tackle the rising tide of violence, abuse and harassment against frontline workers

LONDON, Nov. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A YouGov survey¹ conducted for the Suzy Lamplugh Trust and supported by Peoplesafe in September 2025 has found that one in five workers (20%) feel at risk of violence at work, while nearly a third (31%)² reported experiencing at least one incident in the past year. Common behaviours included verbal abuse (21%), bullying or intimidation (14%), physical assault (3%), and sexual harassment or assault (3%).

This year our National Personal Safety Day report 'Changing Shifts, Changing Safety: Tackling workplace violence across the retail, transport, healthcare and hospitality sectors' shines a spotlight on the alarming workplace violence occurring across key sectors. Women, disabled workers, LGBTQ+ staff, and Black and minoritised workers were found to experience disproportionately higher levels of harm, underlining the need for an inclusive approach to workplace safety.

Change is urgently needed. Workers responding to our survey have called for stronger preventative measures, including specialist training, robust reporting systems, and visible safety provisions, alongside tougher penalties for perpetrators. We remain concerned that despite the Worker Protection Act mandating employers take reasonable steps to address sexual harassment in the workplace, many employers have still not implemented these steps a year after the Act came into force. It is also imperative that the government strengthen legal frameworks to prevent all forms of gender-based violence in the workplace and close existing loopholes to ensure every worker can feel safe at work.

Key Findings:

• 31%³ of workers experienced violence, aggression, or abuse in the past year.
• 21% reported verbal abuse or threats, and 14% bullying or intimidation.
• Women were approximately eight times more likely than men to experience sexual harassment or assault (6% vs 0.7%).
• Healthcare staff were most likely to feel unsafe (25%) and experience incidents (35%)⁴.
• 32% of workers did not report incidents at all, and fewer than one in five saw meaningful action when they did.
• 30% of workers said they had received no training or resources from their employer on preventing or managing violence or harassment.

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust is urging government and employers to take decisive action, including:

1. Closing loopholes in current law by ensuring protection from third-party harassment, such as by customers or clients.
2. Creating a unified Health and Safety Framework to address all forms of violence and abuse in the workplace.
3. Mandating recording and reporting of all incidents of violence, aggression and gender-based abuse at work.
4. Embedding  Suzy's Charter for Workplace Safety  across all sectors to ensure robust reporting systems, bystander training, and clear policies.

Suky Bhaker, CEO of Suzy Lamplugh Trust, said, "Every statistic in this report represents a person who has experienced violence or abuse or felt unsafe, unsupported, and unheard at work. The scale of violence against frontline staff is both shocking and unacceptable. Workplace violence is not inevitable and must be prevented. Our research shows what needs to change: stronger laws, better training, and a shift from a culture of tolerance to one of accountability. The time for half measures is over. We need a coordinated national effort to ensure that every worker, in every sector, can go to work knowing they will return home safely."

Naz Dossa, Peoplesafe CEO, said, "Organisations are failing their people. Protecting employees must be a board-level priority for every organisation, and as leaders, we have a duty to ensure our people are protected. We're proud to be using our technology to support leading organisations like Tesco, Guys and St Thomas' and many others in the great work they're doing to keep their people safe. We stand with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust to call on more to do more."

Baroness Smith of Llanfaes, said, "These survey results are truly shocking. These stark figures show that the UK's legal framework is severely deficient and that it is clearly failing to protect workers from violence in the workplace. No worker should feel at risk of violence at work. The UK Government must and can act now."

Richard Spinks, father of Gracie Spinks, said, "No parent should have to endure what our family has gone through. Gracie trusted the people she worked with, and her employer had a duty to protect her from harm. When clear risks are ignored or safety systems fail, accountability cannot stop at the individual. It must extend to the organisations that allow those failures to happen. Employers must take responsibility, not just after the fact but every single day, to prevent harmful behaviours and make sure workplaces are safe."

Methodology

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1003 adults across 4 sectors- Retail, Hospitality, Healthcare and Transport. Fieldwork was undertaken between 5th - 10th September 2025. The survey was carried out online.

¹ All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.
² 31% was calculated by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust using YouGov figures. We multiplied the number of respondents who were taken to follow up questions about the incident they had experienced by 100 and then divided it by the total number of respondents.
³ Ibid.
⁴ 35% was calculated by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust using YouGov figures. We multiplied the number of respondents working in the healthcare sector who were taken to follow up questions about the incident they had experienced by 100 and then divided it by the total number of healthcare respondents.

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