Betting shop safety charter launched

A new safety charter for betting shop workers has been launched by the Community trade union following a rise in robberies and violence in the sector.

The charter is the culmination of work by a “roundtable” of organisations including local authorities, the industry, the police and the union.

The charter is in the form of a minimum standards document or voluntary code. The union describes it as an important milestone in improving standards in the industry but says it would have liked it to include greater safety measures, particularly around the issue of single staffing. It sets minimum standards on risk assessment and on training to deal with conflict management as well as policy procedures for dealing with violence in the workplace.