The PDA is proud to support the campaign and strongly believes that all retail workers should be treated with respect. As community pharmacies are healthcare settings often based within the retail environment, Respect For Shopworkers Week also affects pharmacy teams.
Each year during the run-up to the busy Christmas shopping period, USDAW encourages shoppers to keep their cool and respect shopworkers. The campaign has been running since 2002 and engages the public, shopworkers, police forces and the government to spread awareness of the issue.
Usdaw’s Freedom From Fear Survey 2022 showed that three-quarters of retail workers had experienced verbal abuse, half of retail workers had been threatened by a customer and 8% had been physically assaulted. These are highly concerning figures, which is why it’s important to help raise awareness of this ongoing issue.
Violence in Pharmacy
The Respect for Shopworkers Week campaign is in line with the PDA’s longstanding efforts to end abuse and Violence in Pharmacy.
In recent years, the PDA has initiated a campaign to call for zero-tolerance of violence in community pharmacies, which has included raising awareness for increasing levels of abuse, launching workplace surveys about violence and abuse in pharmacies, and releasing zero tolerance of abuse posters for members to display in their pharmacies. The campaign has received support from politicians, police forces, and community safety organisations across the country.
Safer Pharmacies Charter
Physical safety is also one of the seven commitments of the Safer Pharmacies Charter. The commitments include that pharmacists should have the necessary support at all times, preventative measures should be put in place to keep staff and patients safe, and a zero-tolerance approach should be taken to violence or abuse of pharmacists and pharmacy staff.
For more information and to see how you can support the Respect for Shopworkers campaign, click here.
Get involved
Learn more
- Respect for Shopworkers Week
- Violence in Pharmacy
- Safer Pharmacies Charter
- Shocking CCTV footage of an attack on a pharmacist at their place of work
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