‘You absolute moron!’: Front line railway staff reveal long-term effects of abuse
South Western Railway (SWR) has launched a new campaign highlighting the damaging effect of abuse directed at its front line colleagues.
The campaign is based on consultations with colleagues who shared experiences of abuse, from physical assaults to verbal attacks, including swearing and insults.
Last autumn, Network Rail statistics revealed that nine out of 10 of its workers in the biggest stations in its Southern Region have suffered abuse.
Front line staff include on-train guards, colleagues at the gate, dispatchers, revenue protection officers, community rail officers and any other colleagues who interact with customers on trains or at stations.
The campaign will see printed and digital posters put up across the rail network to raise customers’ awareness around the lasting impact that their words have, in an effort to cut levels of abuse.
The posters show examples of abusive language on everyday household items, a doormat, shower gel, a kettle and a tin of soup, to show how abuse continues to play on the minds of staff, even while at home.
As part of the campaign ‘Be Kind’ badges are being given out to colleagues to help spread the message.
SWR said the campaign is directed at customers who “wouldn’t normally be aggressive”, but might lose their temper during disruption.
The campaign will be particularly visible on the network during certain events and times of the week, especially when customers are more likely to have consumed alcohol, which SWR said is when levels of abuse against colleagues are higher.
Grant Robey, senior network crime and security manager for SWR said: “We hope this campaign will bring the human impact of thoughtless abuse to the front of our customers’ minds and remind them to be kind to our colleagues, even when things go wrong on their journeys.
“Our colleagues come to work to keep everyone safe and they should not expect to face this behaviour. People wouldn’t behave like this in their own workplace, so it isn’t acceptable in ours.”
A recently published study by the University of Cambridge, commissioned by the Rail Delivery Group and British Transport Police (BTP), suggested body-worn video cameras can reduce the likelihood of assault against the wearer by 47 per cent.
SWR has conducted a phased roll out of body-worn video cameras to frontline colleagues since 2021. All SWR guards now have access to them, with gate staff due to have access in the spring.
Pictured top: Printed and digital posters put up across the SWR network to raise customers’ awareness around the lasting impact that their words have (Picture: SWR)
