Anti-business crime group awarded

Left to right: John Bishop - Stand Up Comedian presenting the awards; Natasha Franklin, Health & Safety Manager for Bury Council (also leading on the initiative representing the partnership); Councillor Geoffrey Theobald OBE, Chairman of Lacors ((one of the sponsors) Lacors co-ordinates Local Authority regulatory services) Gary Parkinson, Senior Environmental Health Officer (Leading the initiative and accepting the award on behalf of the partnership).

A group that combats crime in business as been awarded for the introduction of an innovative Violence at Work Initiative, which is led led by Gary Parkinson, Senior Environmental Health Officer at Rochdale Council.

The Greater Manchester Health and Safety Technical Group, which comprises the ten Greater Manchester local authorities, have been working in partnership with GMP for the last 12 months to reduce incidents of commercial robbery, repeat robberies and violent occurrences in the workplace.

Betting shops, petrol stations, fast food chains and nightclubs have historically been vulnerable to crimes such as wholesale thefts and armed robberies. However, The Violence at Work Initiative, aimed at reducing the number of violent acts of crime in the retailing industry, is proving to be a big success.

Greater intelligence sharing amongst Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and Local Authorities is curbing organised crime and making life harder for persistent troublemakers. As part of the scheme, high street businesses are reminded of their legal obligations in line with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, under which employers have a legal duty so far as reasonably practicable to protect the health, safety and welfare of staff and visitors. Advice and guidance is offered to businesses regarding appropriate security measures that can be effective in minimising the risk of crime on their premises.

Gary Parkinson said on behalf on the partnership: “The number of violent incidents such as armed robberies and low level violence is a real concern for us because of the impact that it has on the safety and wellbeing of the people involved. Employers need to be made aware of the simple and cost effective measures that they can take to improve security which will reduce the likelihood of them becoming a target and will protect staff and customers in the event of an incident. Ultimately, this contributes to making Rochdale a safe place to work and visit.

“Winning this award is a credit to everyone involved in making the initiative such a success.”

Business Watch Schemes in Rochdale meet monthly to share intelligence and pool resources so that further improvements can be made to tackle all levels of crime. Sandbrook Park is the most recent to benefit from the scheme following a series of robberies and other incidents last year; as a result the levels of security on the retail park have vastly improved.

Mr Parkinson’s leadership of the initiative has earned him a personal invitation from James Purnell, the Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to attend a roundtable discussion in the House of Commons to discuss violence in betting shops, a growing national problem. It is hoped the Greater Manchester initiative can help curb this trend.

The Violence at Work Initiative was selected for the national award from a large shortlist and is one of just a handful of winners to achieve this recognition from a total of more than 200 entries. This is the second national award that the Violence at Work Initiative has picked up after it won an Innovation Award in November 2008.

The award judges said that the Violence in Work Initiative won because: “Its focus on low paid workers was particularly good and is a positive example of work place cohesion. There was a solid file of evidence of good stakeholder engagement and strong evidence of sharing with others.”

The LGC & HSJ Sustainable Communities Awards are the UK's largest community awards. The ceremony, at the Brewery in London, was attended by around 600 guests from the Local Government, Healthcare and Voluntary sectors.