Violence at Work Statistics UK: The Definitive Guide (2026)

Violence at Work: The Scale of an Underreported Epidemic

Violence at work is one of the most widespread, most underreported, and most normalised safety hazards in UK workplaces. In public-facing roles — healthcare, retail, transport, social care, education — it has become so routine that many workers treat it as an expected feature of their job rather than an unacceptable failure of their employer's duty of care.

In 2024/25, the Health and Safety Executive — drawing on the Crime Survey for England and Wales — recorded an estimated 689,000 incidents of violence at work, comprising 370,000 assaults and 319,000 threats. An estimated 329,000 adults experienced at least one incident of work-related violence in the year.

In retail specifically, the picture is even more alarming. The British Retail Consortium's 2025 Annual Crime Survey — covering the 2023/24 year — recorded more than 2,000 incidents of violence and abuse against retail workers every single day. That is over 730,000 incidents per year in retail alone — more than the HSE's cross-sector estimate — and is the highest rate ever recorded in the BRC's crime survey. 70 of those incidents per day involved a weapon — more than double the previous year. The total cost of retail crime reached £4.2 billion in 2023/24.

These figures are staggering. But they may still substantially undercount the true scale. Research consistently finds that workplace violence is severely underreported — driven by a culture in which physical and verbal abuse is normalised as "part of the job" in frontline sectors, and by a lack of faith among workers that reporting will lead to meaningful management response.

Key Facts & Figures (Overview)

How Violence at Work Is Defined

The Health and Safety Executive defines workplace violence as "any incident in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work." This encompasses:

Physical violence: Any unwanted physical contact with intent to harm — from pushing and shoving through to punching, kicking, biting, or attacks with weapons. Physical violence requiring medical attention must be reported under RIDDOR.

Psychological violence: Verbal abuse, threats, intimidation, and harassment that creates fear or distress. The HSE definition explicitly includes threats that cause workers to fear for their safety, even if no physical contact occurs.

Verbal abuse: Shouting, swearing, insults, and demeaning language directed at workers in the course of their duties.

Retail: The Sector in Crisis

The BRC's 2025 Annual Crime Survey paints the clearest picture of any sector of what violence at work actually looks like at scale:

The Association of Convenience Stores' 2024 Crime Report shows that 87% of colleagues in convenience stores faced verbal abuse in the past year. Violent incidents in this sector nearly doubled year-on-year — from 41,000 to 76,000.

Healthcare: Persistent and Largely Normalised

NHS data recorded record levels of harassment and abuse in 2024, with 29% of ethnic minority staff facing harassment, bullying, or abuse from patients. The NHS paid £4,716,991 in damages for assault claims between 2019 and 2024. Healthcare workers — many working alone during night shifts — are among the occupational groups most at risk of physical assault. Three in ten workers in caring and service occupations report experiencing abuse each year (Skills and Employment Survey 2024).

Lone Workers: A Growing Emergency

SoloProtect data covering its customer base showed:

Healthcare workers, utilities workers, social care staff, and delivery drivers are particularly exposed. These workers face violence without the presence of colleagues, without CCTV, and often in isolated locations.

The Underreporting Problem

Research from the Violence and Aggression Research Network (VARN) — a collaboration between the University of Manchester and the HSE — confirms that the vast majority of workplace violence incidents are never reported. The reasons are consistent across sectors:

Even the CSEW-based estimates of 689,000 incidents per year are likely an undercount — survey-based reporting consistently exceeds employer-reported RIDDOR data by a factor of five to ten or more.

The Legal Framework

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974: Section 2 requires employers to provide a safe system of work, including assessing the risk of violence and implementing controls.

Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999: Require employers to conduct suitable and sufficient risk assessments — which must include violence for any role with significant public contact.

2024 Proposed Legislation: The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Amendment) Bill, published in November 2024, proposes to include specific reference to violence and harassment in outlining an employer's duties to protect employees.

Written by CPD Experts

This guide was produced by the team at Online CPD Academy, a UK provider of CPD-accredited online training courses. Our violence at work and conflict resolution training covers risk assessment, lone worker safety, de-escalation techniques, and employer legal obligations.

Sources & References