A survey of almost 1,300 staff conducted by the GMB union has shown that more than one in three UK water employees have been verbally abused at work.
According to the survey, 52% of workers said that they believed reports of sewage dumping had contributed to an increase in abuse. Water industry workers say they have been physically assaulted and feel unsafe working alone for fear of attack amid a public backlash over sewage dumping.
Water companies in England are reported to have faced a barrage of criticism last week as data revealed that raw sewage was discharged for more than 3.6m hours into rivers and seas last year – the worst year on record for storm water pollution.
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The companies – including heavily indebted Thames Water which faces questions over its financial future after investors said that they were unwilling to invest further funds – have been widely condemned by the public and politicians over leaks and spills.
That anger appears to have manifested on the frontline. Workers complained that they had faced “very hostile” abuse from the public, in a series of anonymous testimonies delivered to the GMB and shared exclusively with the Guardian.
One employee was quoted as saying that they had stopped interacting with members of the public after a colleague was “violently assaulted and was off work for weeks with a broken jaw” and another claimed an employee was attacked with a machete. Another said that they had been “physically assaulted by minors while shutting down a vandalised fire hydrant while their parents stood laughing”.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
