It pays to be united

A new report released by the United Services Union has revealed  that over 46 per cent of council rangers and parking patrol officers across NSW have been subjected to some form of physical assault.

The report Moving on for Safety calls for the State Government to develop a community awareness campaign to educate the public on the work rangers and parking patrol officers do and help stop the increasing rates of violence. Download a copy of the report here.

Moving on for Safety Launch
The report was launched at the Annual Conference of the Australian Institute of Local Government Rangers on 29th July 09.

The USU said the report was eye-opening and shows the myriad of abuse directed towards the council officers on a daily basis.

Rangers and parking patrol officers have reported being stabbed, run over, hit in the head, verbally abused, as well as being stalked and having threats made against them and their family.

We know that this type of behaviour is rife, but this report indicates that abuse is often personal and has a long lasting effect on the health of the workers.

The report is the union’s first comprehensive survey of rangers, with 60 per cent saying the incidents of abuse and assault were increasing, while more than half (52 per cent) said the assaults were becoming more violent in nature.

The USU said the report found 98 per cent of the officers have been verbally abused while on the job, with many saying the abuse is personal, with racial or sexual content.

Without a doubt this level of violence and aggression is too high, and the union is keen to work with both state and local levels of government to put a stop to the abuse directed at rangers.

We would like to see a targeted and coordinated approach to stopping all forms of abuse. This would include a campaign aimed at informing the community of the positive role rangers and parking patrol officers play and the community benefits of their work.

The Union has also called for a range of other measures to be used to tackle workplace violence, including  a review of risk assessment procedures, work practices, improvements in training,  a buddy system allowing officers to work pairs, improvements in services available after an incident and other changes.

The report is available in pdf format here or a hard copy can be obtained by contacting the USU Support Team on 1300 136 604.