The number of full-time equivalent jobs provided directly or indirectly by the British betting industry is around 100,000, while the industry contributes an estimated £5 billion a year to the economy, writes David Whittle, CEO, Positive Response.
Betting shops aim to provide local employment opportunities and to offer fair, safe gambling to people. The bookmaker William Hill also prides itself on providing a trusted and friendly face in the local community. They offer a comfortable place to watch live racing, take part in daily Lotto draws and also play on HD multi-screening gaming machines – all with a complimentary tea or coffee.
As well as providing comfort for its customers, William Hill puts the safety of its staff at the top of its agenda for running a business. And for good reason. Keeping staff safe is not only a legal requirement, with potentially severe penalties for non-compliance, but protecting workers gives them peace of mind and improves staff morale and staff retention. Health and safety research encourages businesses to assess the possible risk to the health and safety of their employees – both physical and psychological – from their work. Employees are reassured if they can see that the employer is serious about their welfare. Safer and more efficient working practices do not need to be time-consuming or to demand a large investment in resource. In fact, they can often save money in the long-run and a positive effect on the organisation’s bottom-line.
Sadly, incidents of front-line staff suffering abuse are all too familiar and, often, all but the most serious of offences go unreported, leading to low morale, high absence rates and staff retention issues for retailers. Both employer and employees have an interest in reducing threatening behaviour at work. For employers, as well as the negative staff-related implications, this can create a poor image for the organisation, make it difficult to recruit staff and can also mean the extra cost of higher insurance premiums and compensation payments. For employees this can cause pain, anxiety and stress.
The use of CCTV alone is often not enough to support a safer and reassuring environment for staff and customers in the everyday workplace. Potentially dangerous situations can, and do, escalate in a very short time. In 2014, Positive Response’s StaffSafe system reported over 5.5 million logged calls. Around 110,000 of these resulted from staff activating an alert when a crime was in progress or if they were concerned about customer behaviour. In these cases, a 24 hour audio monitoring and response service, operated by trained staff, allows an operator to listen in and watch, should staff have any concerns.
The reassurance that an operator can interact with any outlet at any time provides great comfort to staff. Often, by interacting at an early stage, many initial situations of potential risk are diffused. Through a combined use of CCTV, microphones, loudspeakers, PIR two-way communication and trained staff, the tools to prevent escalation are immediately accessible for managing most situations.
By the end of 2015, William Hill will have installed the StaffSafe solution in all 2,400 shops across the country to support their duty of care and to demonstrate their commitment to staff safety and well-being. According to head of retail security Gerard Davies, the system is highly valued by their organisation and people: “In our business you can’t predict what will happen. We use it to combat the risk of anti-social behaviour. If there is a potential threat, the system acts as a first-responder with an assertive voice coming through the speaker. This provides a distraction and diversion from the staff. Someone else comes in to take control of the situation. Intervention may prevent a situation from becoming more serious than it otherwise would have been. If the situation cannot be diffused, the Positive Response team will call the police and emergency services where necessary. The system helps to give confidence to our teams and provides comfort during and after a difficult incident. People are reassured to be able to get hold of someone at the touch of a button and to speak to someone in the immediate aftermath of an incident. They are supported through any post incident procedure by the operator. We’ve had really positive feedback from our staff.
“Another advantage to having the system is that, when the premises are shut, any movement will alert the monitoring team who will listen in to the activity and contact the emergency services if any suspicious activity is taking place. The fact that it’s multi-functional adds value and makes the system cost effective too,” adds Gerard.
While they may not prevent a robbery attempt, for example, hidden microphones can pick up the criminal act and a timely announcement may lead to the criminal leaving the building and can lessen the damage caused. In the aftermath of an incident, staff are able to speak to an operator and be supported by them. Last year, 15,000 StaffSafe™ announcements were made across Positive Response’s client sites to dissuade anti social-behaviour and alcohol abuse, with 2,800 calls to the emergency services.
Having someone there to provide some comfort and reassurance is invaluable for staff. This includes situations where a lone worker might have had an accident or fallen seriously ill. After a period of inactivity the worker is connected automatically to an operative who can then talk with them and alert the emergency services.
Feedback from customers suggests that the product has had a dramatic effect on business performance. Higher staff morale, less absenteeism, a more confident workforce, less stress, a quicker return to work following threatening incidents, higher staff retention and a reduction in recruitment and training costs have all been cited.
