Licensees and barstaff are in the frontline of drink-related violence. Phil Mellows reports on how training can help reduce the risk.
Paradoxically, pubs are in the business of giving their customers both good times and bad news. It's never easy giving people bad news, and when it's "I can't serve you because you've had too much to drink" it's not only difficult, it can be dangerous.
So as the licensed trade is increasingly held responsible for public order "alcohol-related violence" it's ironic that it's the people who work in pubs and who are charged with that responsibility who are also most likely to be the victims of that violence.
Whether or not you believe that Britain is on the brink of anarchy, there is no doubt that you and your staff are in a vulnerable position. Verbal and, on occasions, physical assault are, sadly, all part of the job. People who work in pubs and bars aren't the only ones in the frontline, though. Local authorities, with their traffic wardens, car park attendants, community workers and so on, are the ones taking a lead when it comes to conflict management.
Conflict management is something of a boom industry. The idea is that you train staff in the kind of behaviour that can stop people becoming frustrated, angry and violent. Such is the demand that there is now a City & Guilds qualification in it.
A recent workshop brought together local authority management in the London area to share best practice in managing conflict. The debate was led by Bill Fox of consultancy Maybo, one of this country's leading experts on the subject, who will be familiar to many in the licensed trade. He has worked with the BII on its door supervisor qualification and the Security Industry Authority on its accreditation scheme, as well as advising a number of high street pub operators.
"All the statistics point towards increasing workplace violence," he told delegates. "Why is this? People have a lower tolerance, they have higher expectations of service. The most at risk are those who have to deliver bad news."
As your barstaff come under growing pressure to to act responsibly and keeping social order becomes increasingly the burden of licensees, the way you tell people bad news is becoming essential to personal safety.
In the longer term, as Bill pointed out, it has an impact on the recruitment and retention of staff. People who have been attacked, or even feel threatened, are less likely to see the pub as a great career - and this in an industry that already has staffing problems.
"You also have to consider the bad publicity generated by an incident," said Bill. "Violence is a very sexy topic and it will get in the papers - then we have a real crisis."
And if that isn't enough, we live in an increasingly litigious society. "There is a big problem with litigation, not just brought by the Health & Safety Executive but through individual compensation claims brought by those who have been attacked," added Bill.
"If you get one successful claim others follow - and we are looking at six-figure settlements here."
Like other health and safety issues, you should carry out a risk assessment on violence - although, as Bill appreciates, it's difficult to risk assess something in which so many factors come into play. It's not like falling down the cellar stairs.
"Pubs are being urged to get tough on customers who have had too much to drink, but as soon as you do that you change your barstaff risk assessment," he said. "How, exactly, do you tell someone they're drunk? How can you deal with that safely?"
By considering in detail the different tasks your staff have to carry out in their job - whether it is their responsibility to ask troublesome customers to leave, for instance - you can devise a policy and then a plan aimed at reducing the risk of them being attacked.
Your plan might include training staff in conflict management. But there's not a lot of point in just sending them on one of the many courses that are springing up unless they are supported back at the pub and work as a team.
"Training needs to show a link to the actual risk," explained Bill. "You need to study incident reports to find out what those risks are - and don't forget the near misses. From that you can work out your training needs and eventually you will develop the confidence of your staff to deal with the difficult new situations they are bound to face."
- For information on conflict management training and qualifications call City & Guilds on 020 7294 2800 or go to
- www.city-and-guilds.co.uk. For more about conflict strategies visit www.maybo.com
Conflict strategies
Bill Fox (pictured) will be speaking about conflict management at The Publican HR & Training Conference to be held in London on November 3.
For more information go to www.publicanconference.co.uk. To book a place call Michele Hams on 020 8565 4399 or email micheleh@thepublican.com