Project implemented with the financial support of

the European Commission

Preventing third party violence in commerce

A toolkit

Stop it!

October 2009

This project is implemented in the framework of the Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2008-2009 promoted by the OSHA (European Agency for Health and Safety at Work)

Sole responsibility lies with the authors and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

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1

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Chapter 1: Risk Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Chapter 2: Prevention of Incidents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Chapter 3: Conflict Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Chapter 4: Partnership and Cooperation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Chapter 5: Where to Learn More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Table of Contents

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It is estimated that more than 3 million people working in the European commerce sector have been subjected to some sort of violence, according to statistics gath-ered by the European Commission. Given the nature of the work in the commerce sector, there is reason to fear that the actual number is far greater, with incidents happening daily.

Contributing to this fear are the many reports received by social partners from their affiliates while creating this toolkit, showing that, nationally, incident num-bers are on the increase.

The social partners (UNI Europa Commerce and EuroCommerce) believe that all workers have the right to be protected from third-party violence in the workplace. This principle reflects both the ILO understanding of decent working conditions and the ambitions of the European Commission enshrined in the Lisbon Goals.

Co-operation on workplace safety predates the creation of the social dialogue committee, as the first joint statement of the social partners in commerce on this issue was signed in 1995. In this document, the social partners called on public authorities at national and local levels to attend to the problem of violence and crime against retail. They also called for tripartite action on guidelines for dealing with crime and violence in the workplace.

Since 2005, work has continued in working groups, debates in the social dialogue committee and, in particular, the exchange among the social partners of good practice to be promoted and implemented at national and company level.

The partners have also discussed how to deal best with third-party violence and have taken part in the multi-sectoral initiative organized by the European Com-mission in March 2008.

To strengthen their cooperation, UNI Europa Commerce and EuroCommerce have implemented a common project at European level with the financial support of the European Commission.

The social partners have focused on violence arising from a ‘third-party’ external to the work place. The joint toolkit is based on a definition of violence as:

Introduction

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“Insults, threats or physical or psychological aggression exerted by people from outside the organization, including customers and clients, against a person at work that endangers their health, safety or well-being.

Aggressive or violent acts take the form of uncivil behaviour; lack of respect for others; physical or verbal aggression; intention to injure and/or assault; intention to harm the other person.”

This definition was agreed in 2006 on commencement of the current project, when the social partners signed a joint statement on “promoting a safer working and shopping environment”.

In drafting this joint handbook on the promotion of a safer working and shopping environment in the commerce sector, we wish to:

▷ Develop a specific sectoral approach for the prevention of third party violence and protection of employees on the basis of existing good practice successfully implemented at national or local level;

▷ Raise awareness among public authorities of the importance of adopting a common preventive approach;

▷ Provide a support tool to both shop owners and employees at EU level aimed at helping them improve safety in the workplace through social partnership

It comprises the following main chapters: ▷ Risk assessment ▷ Prevention of incidents ▷ Conflict management ▷ Partnership relations ▷ Resources for more information and training

Throughout the toolkit the word “staff” is meant to encompass both shop workers and store managers. The social partners recognise that incidents in the work place affect both parties. Even though they may have different roles as a result of their positions, managers and workers can share the same experiences. When a particular task needs to be performed by either party, the text will show this.

This handbook is intended to be a practical and flexible tool to be widely dis-seminated; it has a special focus on SMEs, which represent 95% of companies in the sector.

The European social partners for commerce hope that their affiliates in all countries and people working in companies of all sizes will benefit from the experience brought together in this toolkit. It is based on examples of good practice developed through social partnership aimed at improving the protection of those working in shops.

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The first step in the process of making the workplace more secure is to conduct a risk assessment. The details of a risk assessment will depend on the size and loca-tion of the different stores, etc.

Purpose: ▷ identify vulnerabilities relating to the facilities and location of the workplace ▷ identify issues which make staff feel insecure and exposed ▷ think about all the staff categories such as part-time workers, seniors, young

workers etc. Consideration should also be given to non-regular staff such as maintenance, security and staff from contractors.

Risk assessments should be regularly reviewed in consultation with the staff. Risk assessments are a requirement of European Health and Safety Law1. A risk assessment should address as many as possible of the following issues:

Location

Understanding location and the neighbourhood communities is a key factor in assessing the risk of robbery.

Access

Analyse how customers and staff get to the store (availability of public transport, designated parking spaces etc.) and the security of access to the store itself.

Lay-out

Analyse the lay-out of the store (visibility in the store, queues at the cash-tills), as bad conditions may encourage theft or customer dissatisfaction/anger.

Customer service

Verify that procedures, staff training and actual handling of customers’ requests and complaints are adequate to minimise the risk of abuse and violence.

Shop theft

Verify that procedures, staff training and actual handling of shop theft are adequate to minimise risk of abuse and violence.

1 Information available on the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work website: http://osha.europa.eu/en

chaPter 1: Risk Assessment

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UK rises to the risk assessment challenge

In the UK, the duty of employers to protect staff from third party violence un-der health and safety law has been recognised for many years. But, by 2003, concern was growing among retail workers that the problem was getting worse. As a result, the union of shop distributive and allied workers (Usdaw – the main union for retail workers) launched its ‘Freedom from Fear’ campaign. As part of the campaign, Usdaw developed model policies on the management of risk and a simple checklist on risk assessment – http://www.usdaw.org.uk/campaigns/freedom_from_fear/.

In the UK, local authorities are responsible for enforcement of health and safety law for the retail sector. Several local authorities took up the Usdaw campaign. In particular the ten local authorities in the Greater Manchester area, working jointly with the Greater Manchester Police, developed an enforcement plan. They found that many employers had inadequate risk assessments and worked with them to improve staff protection. In the first year of the project, the number of robberies of retail premises fell by 75% in Bury and 49% in Salford.

Nationally, the Health and Safety Executive also recognised the seriousness of the issue. In consultation with local authorities, the unions and the em-ployers’ organisations, they developed a risk assessment toolkit. The toolkit gives advice on how to conduct a risk assessment for retail employers and on practical measures that reduce risk – http://www.hse.gov.uk/violence/toolkit/index.htm.

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Once risks and immediate threats have been identified and assessed, the next step is to prevent them from turning into incidents. A wide range of measures can be taken in order to build an adequately pre-ventive environment: a workplace which is arranged to optimise staff safety in combination with shop procedures aimed at minimising the likelihood of unexpected incidents.

The following 3 main themes, illustrated by numerous examples, should be considered in creating an adequately preventive environment:

Training

Once you have decided what staff protection measures are needed, it is crucial to instil a thorough understanding of shop procedures through proper training on the use of security devices and the handling of con-flict and aggression. The store should adopt a plan for training all staff to ensure that each individual is familiar with the role they must play in any given situation. Inadequate training can actually increase the risk of violence.

Design issues

– Lay-out of the shop ▷ adequate visibility – easy overview of the business area. This can

be improved by placing mirrors, widening aisles, or by a transpar-ent shop front making it possible to see what is going on both outside and inside the shop.

▷ a well-designed counter can serve as a barrier to prevent incidents.

– Cash registers ▷ safety-systems which make removal of the cash drawer impos-

sible for anyone other than the cashier. ▷ if this is impossible, the cash register should be placed out of

reach of customers in order to discourage theft.

– Entrances and exits should be – if possible: ▷ easily accessible ▷ quick to lock/ unlock ▷ away from possible hiding places.

– Good lighting inside and outside the store ▷ to create a general ‘feel-good’ atmosphere and professional

look ▷ to avoid dark corners and a scruffy look ▷ customer parking and delivery areas should be well lit.

chaPter 2: Prevention of Incidents

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Preventing third party violence – Carrefour “SOS conflict” training course

Facing security issues is one of the priorities of the Carrefour Group to ensure all workers are given help and protection when facing any situation of violence from a third party.

The first objective of the training is to give practical tools to trainees to bet-ter manage a conflict situation.

The training is done by professional trainers, or by managers who have already received training. This double line of trainers and trainees helps to better transfer the requisite skills to employees in stores.

The aims

• Strengthentheabilitytorespondprofessionallyinthemanagementofvio-lent situations

• Takeintoconsiderationallsituationswhichmightariseinashop,fromthemildly aggressive to the most dangerous

The training

The training materials have been compiled with the objective of helping man-agement to train employees. The non-professional trainer will have access to a video and visual support tools to help them conduct optimum training days.

The overall approach of the training is to give employees an understanding of the emotional mechanisms involved in violent situations and help them learn appropriate responses to violence. It uses 3 practical exercises and a video.

The expected results

• abetterunderstandingofthepossiblereactionsofdifficultclientsfora better response in a given situation;

• a rangeof solutions,according tocircumstances topreventormanage conflict situations;

• a good understanding of the emotionalmechanisms at play in cases ofthreats, blackmail or hold-ups.

Useful data

• 700 employees received training in French supermarkets between 2007and 2008 (equivalent to 4859 hours of training).

• Number of trainees in French hypermarkets between 2007 and 2008:7658

Safety first at REWE Group

The REWE Group aims to protect as far as possible its employees in all outlets from robberies and their consequences. To this end, REWE Group has developed an information and prevention programme in cooperation with the German Employers’ Liability Insurance Association ‘BGHW’ and an external service provider. Among the recommended measures are organisational changes and building alterations.

A robbery at a supermarket usually only lasts a few minutes. With its preven-tion programme the REWE Group offers quick and comprehensive help to its employees.

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– CCTV (closed circuit TV): ▷ is a security measure which can be introduced after due consideration and

according to national law ▷ is not a ‘one size fits all’ solution ▷ Staff representatives should be consulted and informed when CCTV is in-

stalled ▷ Staff’s right to privacy must be respected.

Promotion of a safer working and shopping environment in Denmark

In Denmark, HK Handel, the union for shop and clerical workers, cooperates with the Danish Chamber of Commerce on various information campaigns and activities aimed at supporting the industry’s health and safety initiatives. This cooperation primarily takes place through the government-backed health and safety body, Work Environment Council for Retail, BAR Handel.

In September 2001 BAR Handel initiated the campaign ‘Hand over the money’. The campaign’s aim was to create awareness on preventive work on violence and robbery in the retail sector.

As part of this campaign, two guidebooks were published which focus on how shops can prevent violence and robbery as well as how to tackle such events. The guidebooks give technical and practical preventive suggestions relevant to both employers and employees, as well as guidelines on making work practices safe against robberies and violence. They were sent out to all the organisations’ member enterprises and all health and safety shop stewards (the employees’ health and safety representative in workplaces with more than 10 employees). These popular guidebooks are available to download at www.barhandel.dk.

To create awareness of the campaign, employers and employees were invited to evening meetings across Denmark. There would typically be a presentation from the police robbery unit detailing how robberies usually take place and how the police investigate. This would be followed by a presentation from a psychologist on how to prepare oneself mentally for involvement in a robbery and how best to give psychological ‘first aid’. The local police were also invited to explain local safety initiatives and to give recommendations on alarms etc.

The campaign received good coverage in the press, which continues, given the persistence of these crimes and the continued need for vigilance.

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9Cash handling in Sweden

Cash Handling at check-outs

Cash shall be handled safely and with care. The following three different meth-ods should be considered to achieve security at the check-out.

- Closed Cash Handling Systems

Closed cash handling systems calculate the amount of cash in the register. They therefore protect against robberies and theft, eliminate unexplained dif-ferences in the cash registers and save time in the back-office. Depending on the system, such solutions ensure that cash is seldom or never exposed in the store, thus preventing robberies and other spontaneous attempts to get hold of money. This system provides a safer and more secure workplace as well as delivering easier and faster cash processing without any cash differences. The closed cash handling system means that the register always contains cash from the previous day, which can be used directly in case of queues. This also allows customers, even the first customer of the day, to obtain cashback with their bank cards.

- Tube System

A tube system transports cash from the check-out to a safe place within the store. This minimizes the amount of cash that must be held in the register and removes the need for the cashier to carry large amounts of cash from the reg-ister to an office in the store.

- Deposit Boxes

A system of secure deposit boxes enables the store to limit the amount of cash in its registers. The deposit box is installed in such a way that it is impossible to remove and is emptied when it is safe to do so, e.g. after closing. The key to the deposit box should be stored in a safe place and not in close proximity to the box itself.

Shop procedures

– Handling of cash ▷ Money should not be allowed to build up in tills. ▷ Routines for emptying the cash registers and for transporting cash to

the counting room or to the bank should be worked out, understood and respected by all staff.

▷ Money should be kept out of public view and should not be sorted or counted in public areas.

▷ Another way of limiting the amount of cash in the store is to allow customers to pay with bank cards or other electronic means where feasible.

– A good customer flow through the shop must be maintained ▷ avoid long queues at the checkouts

– Develop safe procedures for opening and closing the shop.– When planning staffing levels, take account of the different risks associ-

ated with particular times of the day and of the week.– Keep the store tidy, inside and outside.– Establish procedures to deal quickly with faulty equipment. – Develop procedures for dealing with shop theft and attempted robberies.

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Conflict management is: ▷ a complex process because conflict consists of many phases and many possible

developments. ▷ a skill that can be learned but may never be fully mastered, as the outcome

partly depends on matters out of one’s control.

It is important for all staff in contact with the public to respect and try to under-stand angry or agitated customers. They need to be trained in conflict management and on how to ask questions appropriately.

What follows is an example of advice and training that the staff may need to deal with conflict.

The three phases

Conflict management can be broken down into three phases: before, during and after.

Before

▷ Talk openly about any conflicts that arise. ▷ Make agreements with your colleagues and manager on how to help each other

and at what point. ▷ Study the shop’s guidelines for customer service, returning and exchanging

goods and other relevant policy e.g. a conflict policy.

During

▷ Do not blame, attack or evade. ▷ A conflict will always escalate if nobody does anything to solve it. ▷ Try to calm the customer down and get him/her out of the emotional involve-

ment, before discussing the details of the problem.

chaPter 3: Conflict Management

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REWE Group’s de-escalation training and aftercare programme

Since 2007, REWE Group has offered employees ‘de-escalation’ training from specially trained external service providers. Participants learn how to behave appropriately during a robbery and that the most important priority in such a situation is the employee’s safety and health. A further module of the pro-gramme is professional aftercare. REWE Group, in agreement with the German Employers’ Liability Insurance Association BGHW, works closely with special-ists to provide adequate psychological aftercare for affected employees.

What the customer may be feeling?

THE COnfLICT LADDER

What I can do at the various stages on the

conflict ladder?

”We disagree, but it’s ok!”STEP 1

DISAGREEMEnT (THE ISSuE)

Keep focussed on the issue and avoid becoming personal. Be interested in the customer’s situation

”You just don’t understand and are not listening!”

STEP 2BLAME (THE PERSOn)

Find out how the customer perceives the

situation

”This is just typical. I have had problems with

you before...”

STEP 3MORE PROBLEMS

Remain focused on the actual issue

”You are unbelievable. I can treat you as I

want to!”

STEP 4OPEn HOSTILITy

Calm yourself down. Apologise for what you

might have said or done. You may need to get help

from a colleague

”This is completely unacceptable.

I am out of here!”

STEP 5SEPARATIOn

Try to re-establish contact with the

customer and try again to solve the conflict

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What to do

▷ Act with consideration, but firmly. ▷ Listen to the customer and be sympathetic about his/her situation. ▷ Try to understand what the problem is and why by allowing the customer to tell

his/her story without interrupting. ▷ Keep focussed and stick to the point – do not discuss other problems that the

customer introduces and only say things that the customer can accept as facts. ▷ Show that you are listening and willing to understand him/her – you don’t need

to agree, only show that you respect the customer and his/her view upon the situation, and accept how he/she feels.

▷ Ask questions and let the customer explain how he/she views the issue. ▷ Do not offer additional explanations, correct the customer, provoke or tell your

version of the issue, before the customer is no longer emotionally involved and is able to listen to you and to understand you.

▷ If the customer is threatening, aggressive or indecent, tell the customer that he/she seems to be very angry, and ask what he/she is angry about.

▷ If you feel that you have reached your limit, call for assistance. ▷ If you believe that it is impossible to manage the conflict, you can break

away from the customer by telling him/her, that you will not tolerate his/her behaviour.

▷ Be aware of your communication – both verbal and non verbal.

After

Even after the customer has left and the situation is dealt with, the staff involved might need some time to recover from the conflict.

▷ Talk about the situation with your colleagues and manager. ▷ Do not blame yourself or your colleagues if you/they did not solve the conflict. ▷ Accept that some conflicts are unmanageable.

Your manager and colleagues can do the following things:

▷ listen and let you talk about the situation without interrupting, ▷ remain neutral and impartial – both about the colleague and the customer, ▷ respect and accept your perception of the experience, even if they disagree, ▷ refrain from becoming personal and assuming you are to blame, ▷ stick to the point.

When you have described your own experience and calmed down, you can talk with your colleagues about how you think the customer experienced the situation, and if anything could have been done differently.

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Carrefour / INAVEM agreement – Dealing with third party violence

Carrefour France has decided to promote prevention and training and has cre-ated a partnership with other bodies to find solutions to third party violence.

Carrefour France established an agreement with the French national institute for victim support (INAVEM), an association made up of 150 local associations. INAVEM has agreed to offer psychological support to victims of violence as quickly as possible after the event.

Best practice for the promotion of a safer working and shopping environment – Denmark

In Denmark HK Handel, the union for shop and clerical workers, cooperates with the Danish Chamber of Commerce on various information activities aimed at supporting the industry’s enterprises in their health and safety efforts. This cooperation primarily takes place through the government-backed health and safety body, Work Environment Council for Retail, BAR Handel.

In October 2008 BAR Handel launched a meeting package ”Ease off”, that guides companies through the holding of two hour meetings on how to tackle conflicts with customers. The meeting package contains a spoken and non-spoken powerpoint presentation that demonstrates how to tackle conflicts as well as three roleplay games and 5 interactive films. The package also contains a guide for the meeting leader on how to chair the meeting and on the preparation recommended for using the powerpoint presentations and the other material. For example notes are provided for each powerpoint slide. The meeting package also contains a printed manual to be handed out to all employees. All of this can be downloaded for free and seen on www.trapned.dk.

There are already supermarkets, organisations and places of education that use the meeting package in their educational activities and instruction of employees in tackling conflict situations with customers. The 5 interactive films are especially popular.

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Experience shows that the most successful initiatives to increase the safety of staff and customers have always taken place in close cooperation with a number of stakeholders. Wellbeing at the workplace is an issue which greatly affects local and neighbouring communities. Therefore, it is of great benefit to involve local community organisations and public authorities when a plan on how to increase safety is being drafted and implemented.

Below is a list of stakeholders who should be taken into consideration, though this list may not be exhaustive and must be adapted to the actual area.

chaPter 4: Partnership and Cooperation

In Italy: Vademecum per la sicurezza delle imprese del commercio

Local initiative (by the Unione del commercio, del turismo, dei servizi e delle professioni di Milano – member of Confcommercio)

The ‘Vademecum per la sicurezza delle imprese del commercio’ (vade-mecum for the security of commercial enterprises) was implemented by del commercio di Milano, in cooperation with the Police of the State/Questura of Milan and the Arma dei Carabinieri Comando provinciale di Milano. This first publication is aimed at commercial enterprises which are more exposed to risk of criminality because of their activities. It is available in print and on the website of the Unione del commercio di Milano (www.unionemilano.it).

The publication points out how the level of safety in a shop can depend on attention to detail. For example, the shop should be designed to avoid “zones of shadow” and a wide and lighted desk with a smooth surface should be used to facilitate the collection of finger-prints. Also, windows should be well-lit to allow good visibility to colleagues or to passers by who can raise the alarm in the event of any incident.

In this clear and readable publication, such examples are illustrated by vignettes giving advice on how to behave in the event of robbery. These aim to not only reduce risk, but also to allow the police to collect as much information as possible which may lead to the arrest of the perpetrators. There is also practical advice on security and for the prevention of shoplift-ing, theft and credit card and electronic payment fraud. Finally, useful contact information is also given, including telephone numbers and website details.

▷ National/local social partners ▷ Police ▷ Local authorities ▷ Media ▷ Private security firms ▷ Consumers/consumer organisations

▷ Local business associations ▷ Local shopping community ▷ Owners of local facilities ▷ Training/education providers ▷ Victim support groups

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In Italy: Negozio sicuro

‘Negozio sicuro’ is a national initiative created and implemented in Italy by Confcommercio – Imprese per l’Italia (Confederazione Generale Italiana delle Imprese, delle Attività Professionali e del Lavoro Autonomo). Over the years, this initiative has been held in high regard among commerce sector professionals. By uniting and coordinating the efforts of commercial operators, police and public authorities, Negozio sicuro has greatly contributed to the progressive decrease in crime against commercial activities.

Following the success of the first initiative, Italian Minister of the Interior Roberto Maroni and Confcommercio President Carlo Sangalli signed an agreement for video monitoring in July 2009. This aimed to improve safety in the commerce sector and to continue the partnership for the dissemination of information on safe, legal measures to combat crime.

Underlining the importance of the agreement, Minister Maroni said, “It is an important step towards the fight against organized crime against retailers.”

The video monitoring system, which relays a real time view of what is hap-pening in the shop premises, is a highly advanced tool both for catching the perpetrators, and for prevention of the crime. Shops and commercial activities which join the network will be seen as safer and better protected.

This project is a part of the “safety participation strategy” set up in the framework of the partnership between the State, local collectivities and professional associations.

Recent data shows a progressive decrease in robberies against commercial premises. Between January and April 2009, there were 2.419 robberies, compared to 3.198 for the same period in 2008, i.e. a decrease of 25%. Nevertheless, more than 360 shops are visited by delinquents every day in Italy, a fact which entails an increase in the costs for entrepreneurs in protecting their premises.

Text of the agreement:

http://w w w.interno.it/mininterno/expor t/sites/default/it/assets/files/16/0237_Convenzione_sistema_videoallarme.pdf

http://www.confcommercio.ct.it/download/dossier-sicurezza.pdf

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The following projects are based on the Swedish programme “Protection against robbery in the retail sector”. The police, the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention and the trade sector are supporting the programme. The programme is avaible at www.handelnsarbetsmiljokommitte.se/pro-tectionagainstrobbery.

Security certification of Sickla commercial block

In 2007, property owner Atrium Ljungberg AB, decided to security certify all the stores in the Sickla commercial block according to the Protection against Robbery Programme, with the aim of providing a safer shopping location for both customers and employees.

The project was initiated at an enthusiastic start-up meeting with Svensk Han-del, the Swedish Commercial Employee’s Union, the local branch of the Swed-ish National Council for Crime Prevention, Nacka Local Police and G4S (the property owner’s security company).

As part of the project, Atrium Ljungberg organised training for employees working in the area with the help of training material from the Commercial Employees’ Union’s Working Environment Committee (HAK). Some training courses took place on site for the larger stores and some were open groups to which all stores were invited. This also created a good contact network for all the employees in the area.

HAK has trained personnel working for the property owner who certify the stores. The property owner has also purchased a number of cash boxes as a service to the stores. Nacka Local Police have been very cooperative and have appointed a contact person for this project.

Project schedule:

October 2007 – Start-up meeting with everyone involved.January 2008 – Training of five people as certifiers by Svensk Handel staff. February/April 2008 –Open training courses run for all staff. April – Certification activities.

To date, 60 stores have been certified, more than 30 courses implemented and 400 people trained.

Stores Group in Uppsala: New working methods to deal with robberies and store burglaries

In 2005, the Uppsala County Police instituted a new working method to deal with robberies and burglaries in stores. A working group, called the Stores Group, was set up, made up of representatives of the Swedish Work Environ-ment Authority, Svensk Handel, the Swedish Commercial Employees’ Union, the Swedish Transport Workers’ Union, Svensk Bensinhandel (the Union for petrol station employees), Länsförsäkringar and the Crime Victim Helpline

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etc. The goal was to provide vulnerable stores with relevant crime prevention and victim support information.

A survey of Uppsala showed that stores which had been subjected to repeated crimes accounted for approximately one third of the robberies/burglaries within the following year. The primary aim of this new working method was to decrease the number of stores in Uppsala County that were repeatedly robbed.

To decrease criminality and increase security, the Stores Group decided to work with certification of stores in accordance with a 13-point programme. This programme is primarily aimed at preventing robberies.

This working method meant that, within around two weeks of experiencing a crime, the stores received a visit from the police and representatives of Svensk Handel or the Swedish Commercial Employees’ Union who provided relevant crime prevention and victim support information. In addition, the stores re-ceived an offer to implement the Protection against Robbery Programme with the aim of gaining certification. Certification was implemented by expe-rienced police officers from the Crime Victim Support Unit.

The final stage was that all the stores which had been the object of robberies or burglaries were contacted again around eight months after the crime. This contact was made by unions and employers’ organisations to verify that the measures previously undertaken were still in operation.

Of the stores in Uppsala that have been robbed, 22 have accepted the cer-tification offer and only one of these stores has been the object of a repeat robbery.

Social Partner Involvement in Germany

The social partners in German commerce, (HDE and Ver.di for retail), have been co-operating closely for many years on the issue of violence in commerce. The social partners control the statutory accident insurance provider for commerce, BGHW (Berufsgenossenschaft Handel und Warendistribution). Within BGHW, they have been jointly leading the work on prevention and reha-bilitation in cases of robberies and shop theft. Some of the results of this work:

• various brochures raising awareness and giving advice to commerce companies of different sizes and sectors

• a major nationwide statistical exercise enabling the social partners to conduct a well informed analysis of the problem

• frequent training courses for commerce employees

• psychological victim support programmes

• better cooperation with the police

More information: http://medien-e.bghw.de/asp/dms.asp?url=/bge/m8/m8.htm

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Since 2006 there has been an increased focus upon violence in the retail sector, the consequences for people working there and the ramifications for society. There are now numerous sources where you can learn more about the topic and find details of where to get more training.

▷ Internet/DVD ▷ Books/literature ▷ Training providers ▷ EU

Carrefour – france«SOS Conflit training course»Contact person: Coline Donon coline_donon@carrefour.com Available in: FRFormat: Video, Handbook, Trainer’s guideWebsite: www.carrefour.com

Confcommercio – Italy«negozio Sicuro» and «Vademecum per la sicurezza delle imprese del commercio»Contact person: Rosella Marasco rosella.marasco@confcommercio-int.eu Available in: ITFormat: paper, electronicWebsite: www.unionemilano.it

HDE – GermanyContact person: Beat Späth spaeth.europa@hde.deAvailable in: DEFormat: electronicWebsite: http://medien-e.bghw.de/asp/dms.asp?url=/bge/m8/m8.htm

chaPter 5: Where to Learn More

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HK Handel – DenmarkContact person: Merete Hansen 44MH@hk.dk Available in: DKFormat: electronicWebsite: http://www.trapned.dk/, www.barhandel.dk

REWE Group – Germany Contact person: Roland Kraemer Roland.Kraemer@rewe-group.com Available in: DEFormat: paper, electronicWebsite: http://medien-e.bghw.de/asp/dms.asp?url=/bge/m8/m8.htm

Svensk Handel – Sweden «Protection against robbery»Contact person: Johan Bark johan.bark@svenskhandel.seAvailable in: SV, EN Format: paper, electronicWebsite: www.svenskhandel.se; www.handelnsarbetsmiljokommitte.se/protectionagainstrobbery

usdaw – united Kingdom «freedom from fear»Contact person: Doug RussellAvailable in: ENFormat: electronicWebsite: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/campaigns/freedom_from_fear/

http://www.hse.gov.uk/violence/toolkit/index.htm.

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EuroCommerceAvenue des Nerviens 9-31B-1040 BrusselsT: +32 2 737 05 91F: +32 2 230 00 78www.eurocommerce.be

Uni europa commerceRue de l’Hôpital 31B-1000 BrusselsT: +32 2 234 56 56F: +32 2 235 08 70www.uniglobalunion.org