May has seen the launch of Transport for
Buckinghamshire’s (TfB) latest campaign, Respect Our Workforce. Launched with
the aim of reminding members of the public to treat operatives, inspectors and
technicians on the road with respect, so far the campaign has featured videos
and photos from site, discussing some of the abuse that the workforce have to
encounter.
Customer facing employees, such as operatives, have been
sworn at, shouted at, spat at, had rubbish thrown at them, bottles thrown at
them and have even been physically assaulted – all whilst just trying to do
their job. In some terrifying instances, operatives have even had members of
the public drive through road closures because they don’t want to use the
diversion route. By doing this, they are not only putting their own lives at
risk, but also the operatives’ lives at risk too.
It’s a rare – and horrific – occasion if this kind of
behaviour is experienced in an office based job, or a job with minimal customer
engagement. However, for TfB operatives, inspectors and technicians, who meet
members of the public regularly, it’s almost a daily occurrence.
We understand that road closures can be frustrating, that
temporary signals can be annoying, that being held up at a site where you can’t
see any work happening can be the last straw on a bad day, but it’s never an
excuse to abuse our workforce.
Deputy Leader and Transport Cabinet Member, Mark Shaw,
said:
“They’re here to do a job. They’re here to look after our
roads and make sure they’re safe for you to travel on. We’ve now provided
bodycams to each of our traffic management people, so if any incidents happen,
we can do something about it. Think, keep calm and just turn back.”
It’s hoped that this new campaign will shed some light on
the gravity of the situation, and how TfB can work with the public to prevent
abuse from happening.
If you’re a social media user, you may have noticed an
increase in our communications via Facebook and Twitter. This is to keep the
public in the loop as far ahead of works as possible. A lot of anger comes from
members of the public not being informed about closures and diversion routes
and we want to tackle this. We will also be looking into using additional, more
informative signage for closures and diversions.
Don’t forget, you can also double check your routes for
the day using tools such as roadworks.org to check for closures, diversions and
delays. This can help you to plan accordingly and avoid any frustrations.
Issues on the road are not the fault of our workforce. If
you want to speak to them about the work going, please do so with respect and
in a civil manner.
We will bring the abuse of our workforce to an end.
Think, keep calm and just turn back.
