Think,
keep calm and just turn back. A slogan we coined in 2019 as part of our new 'Respect
our Workforce' campaign, designed to eliminate abuse directed at our customer
facing team members.
Sadly,
abuse towards our workforce is still an issue that we have to deal with on a
very regular basis.
Our
staff are sworn and shouted at, spat at, have rubbish thrown at them, are
physically assaulted and have even been threatened with weapons. All too often,
members of the public are even driving through road closures because they don't
want to use the diversion route, putting our crews lives - and their own lives
- at risk.
Our
staff are regularly facing abuse simply for doing their jobs. It's got to stop.
We
have taken the necessary action our end. We use bodycams. We have signs up
advising of the use of CCTV on site and asking the travelling public to respect
our workforce. We ask for our workers to be respected via social media.
Ideally, we wouldn't even have to ask, but the reality of the situation is that
it's still necessary to.
Everyone
deserves to feel safe at work. Everyone deserves to return home in one piece at
the end of the day.
Our
team members; they're more than just that. They are mums and dads, brothers and
sisters, friends. They have families to go home to safely at the end of the
day. That is the bare minimum you expect when you go to work. It's something
that everyone deserves, our workforce included.
We
understand that our work and the work of our utility companies and supply chain
partners can be frustrating for you, the travelling public. Closed roads and
temporary traffic lights can add time to your already long day and stopping at
a site where you can't see work happening can be the last straw on a bad
day.
We
are the travelling public too. We get it. But it's still never an
excuse to abuse our workforce.
That
is why we are asking once again, that people think, keep calm and just turn
back.
Our workforce are here to do a job. They are here to look after our roads and make sure they're safe for you to travel on. Issues on the road are not the fault of our workforce, so please do not take out any frustrations you may have on them.
It
doesn't stop with the customer facing workforce, either. If you're speaking to
someone on the phone, through email or via social media, please still remember
to respect our workforce and treat them as you yourself would want to be
treated. Swearing, threats and name calling are all unnecessary - and yet our
workforce still deal with this on an all too regular basis.
To
ease your frustrations, it can help to plan ahead. Make sure you're checking
your route on one.network, a satnav or other route checkers online ahead of any journey's you make, as this will advise
you of closures, diversions and delays.
If
you spot a defect, report it on Fix My Street where it can be allocated to the
appropriate team - please don't make an abusive phone call to us about
it.
We
know that roadworks cause frustrations at the best of times, but no one ever
deserves to be abused simply for doing their job.
We
will bring the abuse of our workforce to an end.
Please
think, keep calm and just turn back.
