Transport Violence Is Rising Fast. Four Things Safety Professionals Should Act on Now.

If you work in occupational safety, you already know that workplace violence is not a new problem. But the speed at which it is escalating across the UK’s transport sector should concern every health and safety professional, whether you work in rail, bus, maritime or any public-facing operation.

Over the past twelve months, frontline transport workers have reported sharp increases in verbal abuse, threats and physical assaults. Survey after survey shows that staff are being attacked, incidents are going underreported, and the people responsible face few meaningful consequences. For those of us responsible for managing workplace risk, the question we should be asking ourselves is how we can mitigate it.

The Numbers Behind the Crisis

The data from the past year is difficult to ignore. British Transport Police figures show a 21% increase in violent incidents against transport workers between April and November 2025. An RMT survey of more than 6,000 members found that 63% had experienced workplace violence in the previous year, with over 85% of those citing multiple assaults. In London alone, Transport for London recorded 10,493 incidents of work-related violence and aggression in 2023/24 – an average of 200 incidents every week.

Meanwhile, the Rail Safety and Standards Board’s Annual Health and Safety Report for 2023/24 found that workforce assaults resulting in injury or shock had risen 36% since 2018/19. The most common trigger was fare disputes, but the causes run deeper than any single flashpoint. Reduced staffing, weakened enforcement visibility, and a broader societal normalisation of hostility towards public-facing workers are all feeding the trend.

For safety professionals, these numbers matter because they reveal a systemic failure in risk control, not one-off bad behaviour from the public.

Lone Working | The Risk Multiplier

One finding from the RMT’s survey stands out to me immediately: over 60% of respondents identified lone working as a major risk factor, reporting they were working alone when they encountered violence or anti-social behaviour.

This is not surprising. In nearly four decades of working in occupational safety, I have seen time and again that isolating a worker from colleagues and supervision does not just increase their vulnerability to physical harm. It also reduces reporting rates, delays emergency response and erodes the psychological resilience that comes from working as part of a team. Transport workers are stationed alone on unstaffed platforms at night, bus drivers operate vehicles without onboard support, and revenue control staff patrol without backup. These are everyday working arrangements in the sector.

The Health and Safety Executive has been clear that lone workers must be covered by the same risk assessment process as any other employee. Yet staffing cuts, cost pressures and the commercial drive toward leaner operations have pushed lone working arrangements further than many risk assessments have kept pace with. If your organisation has staff working alone in public-facing roles, and the risk assessment has not been reviewed in the past twelve months, you have to act.

What Does the Law Actually Require?

The legal framework is well-established, even if its application in this context sometimes feels inadequate. Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 places a duty on employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of their employees. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to carry out suitable and sufficient risk assessments.

As the Office of Rail and Road has reminded operators, employers have specific obligations to protect staff from foreseeable risks, including the risk of violence. That means going beyond a generic risk assessment. It means identifying the specific circumstances – lone working, late-night shifts, fare enforcement duties – that make certain workers more vulnerable and implementing proportionate controls.

Scotland is moving ahead with proposals for banning orders and fixed penalties for offenders on the rail network, following recommendations from the Rail Enforcement Powers Working Group. Several unions, including the RMT and TSSA, are pushing for a standalone criminal offence for assaulting public transport workers. Whether or not that legislation materialises in the short term, the duty on employers to manage the risk does not wait for Parliament. It exists right now, under existing law.

What Can Safety Professionals Do Right Now?

If you are responsible for health and safety in a transport operation, or any public-facing workplace where staff encounter aggression, here are four areas that deserve your immediate attention.

Review your lone working risk assessments. Has staffing changed? Have shift patterns been adjusted? Are workers spending more time isolated than they were when the assessment was last written? If any of those answers have shifted, the assessment is out of date.

Audit your reporting systems. Underreporting is one of the biggest obstacles to managing this risk effectively. If your staff do not believe that reporting an incident will lead to action, they will stop reporting. Look at how easy it is for workers to report, how quickly reports are acknowledged, and what visible outcomes result from them.

Invest in meaningful training. The RMT’s survey found that personal safety training across the transport sector is often irregular and inadequate. Conflict de-escalation, situational awareness and post-incident support are not optional extras. They are part of the employer’s duty to provide information, instruction, training and supervision under Section 2 of HSWA.

Push for adequate staffing and enforcement visibility. Research consistently shows that the presence of staff at stations and on trains makes passengers feel safer and deters anti-social behaviour. Cuts to British Transport Police funding and station staffing reductions are policy decisions, but as safety professionals, we have a responsibility to make the risk implications of those decisions visible to decision-makers.

FAQs | Violence Against Transport Workers

Is There a Specific UK Law Covering Violence Against Transport Workers?

There is no standalone offence for assaulting a transport worker at present, though unions including the RMT and TSSA are campaigning for one. Employers’ duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 already require them to assess and manage the risk of violence to their staff.

What Should Employers Do if a Transport Worker Is Assaulted?

The immediate priority is the worker’s physical and psychological wellbeing. Beyond first aid and any police reporting, employers should ensure the incident is formally recorded, investigate the circumstances, review the relevant risk assessment in light of the incident, and provide ongoing support to the affected worker. If the assault results in an over-seven-day injury, it must be reported under RIDDOR.

How Does Lone Working Increase the Risk of Workplace Violence?

Lone workers are more vulnerable because they lack immediate support from colleagues, face longer emergency response times, and may be perceived as easier targets by aggressors. The HSE advises that lone working arrangements must be specifically addressed in risk assessments, with controls put in place to reduce the risk so far as is reasonably practicable.

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