Overview
- Balfour Beatty disclosed Friday that its road-repair teams report about 600 incidents of abuse each week and the company has begun issuing body-worn cameras to staff to record attacks.
- Reported assaults range from verbal abuse and racial insults to threats with knives and baseball bats, vehicles mounting footpaths, objects thrown from moving cars and one incident involving a firecracker.
- The firm has introduced a hotspot-mapping app, increased CCTV in targeted areas, and provided conflict-resolution training and counselling to help protect and support workers.
- Despite regular reporting of incidents to police, Balfour Beatty says those reports have led to only one prosecution so far, highlighting a gap in criminal enforcement and deterrence.
- The rise in aggression is linked to a national £18.62bn backlog in carriageway repairs, which experts warn could worsen worker risk and slow maintenance unless policing, public attitudes and funding are addressed.