Rail Personal Security Group

Issues addressed by the group:

• encouraging all companies to adopt the same definitions for assault, threats and abuse against staff
• encouraging staff to report all instances of assault and abuse and monitoring the consistency and accuracy in recording these incidents of violence towards staff on SMIS
• raising awareness of railway bye-laws on assault and anti-social behaviour, and
• sharing experiences on the success of using Police Community Safety Officers (see also research project T318), adopt a station schemes (T639), and countermeasures to deal with anti-social behaviour, fare evasion and football fans (T592)
• encouraging use of DNA testing kits in spitting incidents

The group published a guide to anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) in March 2008. ASBOs are civil orders to protect the public. The guide explains how TOCs can work with BTP to apply for orders against persistent offenders. Please use the following link to download: A guide to anti-social behaviour orders on the railway.

Staff Assault: reporting and recording assaults on rail staff (PDF file, size 2708KB), for use by managers in the rail industry, when their staff suffer instances of abuse or threatening behaviour is also available.

The group conducted a poster campaign throughout 2005 to highlight the unacceptability of assaults against rail staff. The posters were used at manned stations across the network. MORI subsequently carried out a survey of station users which indicated that the posters had been successful in raising public awareness of the issue.

The RPSG has recently produced a DVD for training purposes to prepare staff for dealing with difficult customers and conflict situations. This video, called SWeRVe (Stop Workplace Related Violence) was launched in September 2006 for use across the industry as a module within conflict management courses. It includes a series of scenarios and gives advice on techniques that may be used in potentially difficult situations.

RPSG acted as the main stakeholder for T542 research project to inform the industry about effective design of conflict management training courses for front-line staff. It provides companies with the information to plan and resource training in this area more effectively and to measure the benefits of improved staff safety, performance and retention.

For further information about the Rail Personal Security Group, or to order copies of SWeRVe, please contact Alan Davies on 020 7904 7964, or e-mail alan.davies@rssb.co.uk