That’s according to a new safety report surveying almost 400 New Zealand and Australian workers.
The research commissioned by tech company Motorola Solutions found their top three concerns were shoplifting, hostile customers and smash and grabs.
Motorola Solutions director Dan Leppos told Checkpoint the influx of foot traffic in retail areas over the Christmas period leads to stress.
“We all tend to leave Christmas shopping pretty late, car park can get pretty full, people are on edge trying to get things done and then you go in there … and there could be some people that are a bit aggressive.”
Leppos said they wanted to get some statistics which would support retailers to look at how to prevent “those incidents of hostile attacks on innocent people trying to support the community”.
Retail workers were reporting aggression, verbal abuse and sometimes physical abuse, he said.
“We’re working closely with these large chains to make sure that using whatever technologies possible that you know someone’s not getting abuse in an aisle trying to support a customer just because they haven’t found what they need or it’s not on the shelf.”
Customers might see retail workers as easy targets, he said.
“You know whatever’s going through the head of the customer at the time being angry or whatnot, sees an easy target and just blames someone that’s trying to do their job.”
That kind of mind set was not ok, which was why the firm was working with large retailers to try and prevent such incidents from happening, he said.
Body-worn video cameras on supermarket staff had seen a 66 percent decrease in people wearing them being verbally abused, he said.
Other technology that could be used to avoid such situations included having emergency buttons on a device that staff could wear and press if they needed help from other staff or security, he said.
“We are trying to build a way that if and when an incident takes place that someone can get someone’s help really quickly and not feel threatened.”
It was not just a matter of preventing recidivist thieves from frequenting stores, but there was also a big mental health impact on staff who were abused either verbally or physically, he said.
The survey showed that 32 percent of workers were considering quitting their jobs because they did not feel safe going to work, he said.
Asked what advice he would have for stressed shoppers this Christmas, Leppos said people needed to take a deep breath.
“So when your temperature’s high, you’re a bit agitated or being impatient remember that’s just a human doing their job and to take a deep breath, that’s someone’s family member and doesn’t deserve to be treated like that.”
