Hi all. 

My organisation is customer and client facing. We have 170 workplaces across the UK, all open to the public offering a service. We also have an inbound call centre which is a helpline for the service we provide.

We have several reports of 'challenging behaviour' made by employees about the clients/ customers, both face-to-face and over the phone. 

These range from physical assault, to aggressive behaviour, to low-level rudeness. For years, within this organisation, people have been told to report everything on a H&S accident form that has a negative impact on their mental health - so in a year we end up with 1000 'challenging behaviour' reports, with most of the injuries sustained being mental (stress, anxiety). 

I'm now looking at what is it we want reporting and for what purpose. There are some clear ones, such as physical assault, and it being work-related. But when it comes to some of the other incidents, such as "the customer was rude, and their tone wasn't polite. It made me feel sad for the rest of the day and I didn't want to come into work the following day". 

I'm getting my head in a bit of a mess when I'm trying to understand what should be reported on a H&S accident form and what shouldn't, and I think I'm over-thinking this now. 

Just wondering what other customer-facing organisations do? 

Thanks in advance 

Hi abotto

You need to consider how to distinguish what is reportable to the authorities e.g. under RIDDOR and what you want to be reported internally, so that you have the chance to assess the scale of the risk to your workforce, and also to do an appropriate level of investigations and learn when this is needed.

HSE does us no real favours with its statistics that show that the No 1 cause of time lost from work is now what falls under what can be broadly classified as "stress" as HSE has made no attempt to identify how much of this is down to Work Related Stress, the stress that people are faced with in other areas of their lives and that which will be a mix of both.

Very clear to me that work-related stress WOULD fall within an employer's duty of care towards their employees and that they should manage this so far as reasonably practicable - which implicitly says that there are limits on what is pragmatic in terms of protecting your workforce.

If you simply decide that some of these incidents are just part of the job, then your employer is probably NOT complying with the law.

So, perhaps it would be sensible to CONTINUE to encourage reporting and then approach the reports on their merits, perhaps grouping some "events" [trying to avoid the word "incident"] together to see if there are patterns of behaviour by those on the other side of the counter or other end of the phone, email etc.

One of the problems is that many organisations have not applied the same strategies that they should understand are appropriate to the management of ANY other risk, instead defaulting to sticking plaster solutions such as Mental Health First Aiders, Employee Assistance Programs and bowls of fruit near the watercooler. "Wellbeing" initiatives should not be a substitute for assessing risks and taking measures to reduce these at source.

Whilst advancing over the horizon we have the new and improved "Workers Rights" legislation with the potential to require banter police and invoke a full blown enquiry in to "hurt" feelings in the workplace.

As to the OP the local council now hides behind its internet forms - you really aren't allowed anywhere near the employees or councillors and its a very similar situation at HMRC where they have shut the local offices where you could drop in with a query.

Customer facing employment is drifting further and further from actual customer interaction even the supermarkets have shut the tills in favour of self check outs although eventually someone will feel my wrath when having asked if I will be using my own bags the screen informs me there is a problem.

Originally Posted by: Roundtuit

Customer facing employment is drifting further and further from actual customer interaction even the supermarkets have shut the tills in favour of self check outs although eventually someone will feel my wrath when having asked if I will be using my own bags the screen informs me there is a problem.

An insurance company I recently worked with was moving to a digital app where you could do everything from renewing and amending to making claims, whilst slowly redcing the call centre staff.

The reason being that whilst the older generation generally wanted to speak to a 'real person' rather than a robot the younger generation actively seek to avoid such an interaction. Sign of the times.

Personally I am the generation in between and I see the pros and cons of both.