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Betting Shop Workers
Question Time — Scottish Executive — Health and Wellbeing
2:15 pm
John Park (Labour)
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to monitor the impact of violence and abuse in the workplace on the mental and physical health of betting shop workers. (S3O-3562)
Shona Robison (Scottish National Party)
Acts of violence and abuse against anyone working in a public-facing role are unacceptable. The Scottish Government is continuing to support the campaign for the
Responsibility for protecting workers from mental or physical harm in the workplace lies, quite rightly, with the employer, who should carry out a risk assessment for their workplaces and—importantly—put in place measures to ensure that risk of harm to their employees is minimised, including recording and reporting incidents of abuse or assault and their consequences for the victims.
John Park (Labour)
The minister will be aware of the poster campaign highlighting violence against betting shop workers that has been run by the community, the Scottish Government, retailers against crime and the STUC. We have seen a successful approach in other industries, particularly in the rail and bus industries, where there has been a joint approach between trade unions, employers and Government. That sort of approach would work well in betting shops. Will the minister pursue employers in the bookmaking industry who are not prepared to display the posters and enter into dialogue with bookmakers about displaying the posters more widely throughout the country?
Shona Robison (Scottish National Party)
I commend John Park for the work that he has done on the issue. He will be aware that officials from the Scottish centre for healthy working lives are already in discussions with the trade unions and employers in the betting trade on how best to tackle the abuse of workers. I look forward to betting-trade employers taking advantage of the support and assistance that is available to them from the centre, and I would certainly encourage any employers who have not displayed the posters to do so. I am sure that such encouragement can take place in the context of the discussions with the centre.