Every day, the staff who are responsible for keeping British trains and stations safe and running smoothly are seeing routine interactions turn hostile.
As they check tickets, handle disputes, manage delays and assist vulnerable passengers, they open themselves up to possible violence and harassment. Now that Great British Railways is set to overhaul the country’s rail management structure, there is an opportunity to change how frontline staff are supported before, during and after an incident.
The Rail Safety and Standards Board reports that 94% of frontline rail staff have experienced work-related violence, and that 25% have been victims of physical assault, figures that have been growing since 2015. The Office of Rail and Road argues that this violence has grown beyond a traditional security concern and must also be regarded as a core health and safety issue.
Rail reform and unified management present an opportunity to apply the same integrated approach to employee protection.
What does frontline conflict actually look like?
The staggering rise in violence and harassment against rail staff stems largely from routine interactions. Transport for London estimates that around 40-50% of all work-related violence within the network escalates from simple fare disputes. Other examples of everyday interactions that now carry an increased risk to staff include:
- Rule enforcement, such as managing noise levels, intoxicated individuals and anti-social behaviour
- Explaining delays and cancellations
- Shepherding crowds during disruptions to services or security incidents
Delays, fare disputes, overcrowding and service disruptions can all heighten tensions between passengers and staff, even more so when alcohol is involved. When employees are expected to enforce rules while maintaining customer service, a tremendous amount of pressure is placed upon them to navigate sometimes uncertain social interactions.
Building defence into operational design
Traditional security infrastructure struggles to account for this increase in dynamic, day-to-day altercations. These routine interactions take place anywhere staff and travellers meet, which can be busy platforms, ticket gates, waiting areas and even trains in motion.
This puts security operators in a difficult position. Training in conflict resolution and de-escalation can only do so much when exposure to these interactions is a key element of frontline staff function. If stations were to reduce their staffing levels, frustrations might increase, and the hostility would simply pass to the next available outlet, such as sanitation workers, as has been noted by the Confidential Safety Hotline. This mirrors a pattern already well documented in retail, where outsourced retail facilities management staff are frequently the first point of contact for public frustration, and providers like Mitie have had to build conflict management and protocols directly into their service delivery.
Security technologies can help bridge the operational visibility gap when they form part of the same connected workflow. One of the most promising avenues for protecting frontline staff is body cameras, which the Rail Delivery Group and Cambridge University found to reduce the chances of an assault on staff by 47%. The presence of body cameras also reduced assaults against all workers within participating stations by 26%, suggesting their presence acted as an effective deterrent to violence.
In that same report, 67% of prosecutors for the British Transport Police stated that body camera evidence was useful in a majority of their cases, highlighting its usefulness beyond an initial interaction.
Though a TfL Safety and Security panel found a 71% compliance rate among teams using body cameras, this discrepancy was largely attributed to training gaps. As rail providers unify, they can begin to standardise the practical education workers are given, and ensure familiarity with data protection and retention laws.
When integrated into wider incident reporting and security workflows, recorded evidence can also help operators identify recurring risks and support continuous improvement across the network.
Fostering an atmosphere that encourages reporting
A worrying statement from the RSSB concerns how under-reported workplace violence is among frontline rail staff. Without a good idea of the scope and context of when, where and how these incidents occur, it's difficult to outline prevention and detection strategies.
Staff should feel encouraged to come forward and detail:
- The time and location of the incident
- What triggered the confrontation, and how severe it became
- How it was contained or de-escalated
- What the outcome was
Both to give them a sense of confidence that their concerns and potential physical injuries and psychological distress are acknowledged, and to better inform how resources should be distributed in the future.
Central to this is a reporting framework that is straightforward, consistent and emphasises the psychological safety of staff. Every report is valuable and can help inform understanding of when risks emerge, what exacerbates them and where additional support may be required. In order to access this operational data, staff who are victims of workplace violence must feel as though their voice is heard and understand how to speak out.
A chance to rebuild safety from a new starting point
Now that the steps to unify rail operators under Great British Rail are in place, there is an opportunity to restructure how the frontline staff delivering day-to-day service are protected. This unification will make it easier to share incident data and enforce consistent safety and security protocols across the country, and ensure that each worker is given the same standard of training and education.
Technology can help connect frontline employees, security teams and decision-makers with the information they need to respond more effectively and continually improve how incidents are managed.
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Will MacDonald
Will MacDonald is the Director of Product Management for the Avigilon Alta Video product line at Motorola Solutions, where he oversees the development and strategy of cutting-edge cloud-based video security technologies. Building on his extensive experience as a technology leader, Will plays a key role in driving innovation, scalability and security within the video surveillance industry. With a strong background in SaaS, unified communications and cloud infrastructure, he ensures the delivery of impactful solutions tailored to the evolving needs of enterprise and public safety customers worldwide.
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