Staff 'attacked' at Dumbarton social work offices

The site in Bridge Street is seeing staff attacked by members of the public, said officials from the Unison union this week.

West Dunbartonshire Council said a risk assessment is currently underway at Bridge Street and they are in talks with the trade unions.

Bridge Street is a principle office for the criminal justice team, dealing with preparing reports for courts, managing community payback orders and other issues.

Val Jennings, Unison branch convener, told the Reporter: “Trade unions have highlighted a number of health and safety breaches and in our experience managers have no knowledge in health and safety and recently we have been unable to identify who is responsible for actioning health and safety issues.

“Within Bridge Street members of the public are entering the building and attacking staff.

“The unions demanded that safe systems of work are put in place to prevent members of the public gaining access and to prevent staff being trapped with no escape route due to the way the secure entry works.

“The response from the RPO [responsible premises officer] of this building was, ‘what am I supposed to do?’ We will be taking this forward as it needs an immediate solution before someone is seriously injured or killed.”

She added: “There were a number of health and safety issues within Bridge Street which management have addressed. The door entry is still an issue and the responsibility has been passed on to staff who are buzzing people into the building.

“However, members of the public still gain access and the staff entrance door was not closing properly, for which again responsibility was passed onto staff to ensure the door is closed behind them.

“Staff are checking who they are letting into the building however if there is a queue then they all get buzzed in.

“The trade unions have highlighted this is not a safe system. Our already stretched staff, who have their own work to do, their time is taken up answering the buzzer. No solution has been forthcoming and staff are still at risk as well as undertaking duties not in their job description.”

A council spokesman insisted they had staff safety as a priority.

He said: “The safety of our staff is paramount and the Bridge Street building has a secure door entry system, CCTV and a panic attack alarm facility. A risk assessment on the access to Bridge Street is currently in progress and, as part of that, discussions involving management and trade unions have taken place.”

Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie said any attacks on staff were unacceptable and workers deserved to be safe and protected by their employer.

She said: “Reports that health and safety issues are not being managed properly are deeply concerning. The safety of staff should be of the highest priority for the council and it is imperative that safety procedures are robust.

“I am glad that a risk assessment at Bridge Street is currently underway. It is important that the council continue to engage with trade unions and take any action necessary to protect staff from any future attacks.”

Dumbarton’s four councillors did not reply to a request for comment.