Scotland extends protection for its emergency workers

Unions have welcomed the strengthening of Scotland’s law against assaults on emergency workers.

In December, the Scottish Parliament extended the Emergency Workers Act to cover GPs, other doctors, nurses and midwives working in the community. The legislation, which came into force in 2005, had previously applied only to ambulance workers, doctors, nurses and midwives working in a hospital or responding to an emergency.

(Similar laws came into force across the rest of the UK in 2007, but have not yet been extended.)

While UNISON public services union gave its backing to the extension, it expressed disappointment that politicians had not taken the opportunity to include other public-sector staff working under the threat of violence.

“The Act is called the Emergency Workers Act, not the Emergency Health Workers Act, and it was intended to cover all types of public-service workers in emergency situations,” said UNISON Scottish organiser Dave Watson.

The union argues that many other public-sector workers — such as care workers in residential and home care, environmental officers tracking illegal dumping and enforcing safety legislation, education workers in schools, traffic wardens and community safety wardens, utility workers and other health service workers such as physiotherapists — face a higher risk of violence from the public and clients, and require legal protection.