Workplace violence surges among council employees

Anthony Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter

Physical violence now accounts for more than half of workplace incidents affecting a local authority’s  staff, with numbers rising sharply in the past year.

A report that went to Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) Council’s joint consultative committee recently said that physical violence was the main cause of incidents or accidents involving employees in 2024/2025 and accounted for 193 (53%) of the total number.

This was an increase from the 112 physical violence incidents recorded in 2023/2024.

The total number of employee health and safety incidents reported in 2024/2025 was 361, which was an increase from 296 in 2023/2024.

The report said that the increase in figures can be attributed to a number of factors, including increased awareness of reporting in educational settings.

The report added that 129 of the physical violence incidents towards employees were recorded in education in 2024/2025.

This replicates the increase in physical and non-physical incidents recorded locally and nationally across the education sector, the report said.

It added that violence at work continues to be an issue for school leaders and has been identified and highlighted through continuous discussions between the council and trade unions over the last 12 months.

The report said that violence at work in education settings appears to be an issue across Wales and has received press following incidents or industrial action.

There were 64 cases of physical violence reported in the community and children’s services group in 2024/2025, which is generally the main cause of incidents within the group based on previous years’ statistical reports.

The second main cause of incidents was “slips and trips from the same level”, accounting for 41 of the 361 reported.

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) means certain work related incidents are reportable to the relevant enforcing authority – the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The total number of RIDDOR employee reportable accidents was 32 for 2024/2025 and comparable with the previous year.

These incidents are generally reported as either specified injuries such as fractures or dislocations or “over seven day injuries” where someone is unable to carry out their normal work for over seven days as a result of an injury.

The total number of ‘days lost’ by employees as a result of an incident at work was 1,709 in 2024/2025, which was an increase from 1,396 days lost in 2023/2024.

“Slips, trips from the same level” was the main cause of working days lost and accounted for 716 (42%) of the days lost, which is comparable with the previous year when 41% of the days lost resulted from slips and trips.

The report said that 198 of the total days lost in 2024/2025 were attributable to “falls from height”  which is the most common cause of fatal workplace accidents in the UK.

Whilst physical violence accounted for 193 (53%) of the incidents recorded in 2024/2025, this accounted for only 241 of the overall days lost (14%).

The report said there were limited formal interventions with the relevant authorities in 2024/2025.

The HSE did not issue any formal letters or notices of contravention.