You’ve probably heard the news or seen it on social media yourself – people getting pushy, and worse, aggressive, towards retail staff.

Supermarket giant Woolworths took matters into its own hands to protect its team members. Last year, Woolworths trialled body cameras in select stores. And while the new security measure was done in a bid to prevent assault and abuse of staff, it also divided customers and sparked a bit of backlash online.

Workers in the retail industry have long suffered from unfair levels of abuse and mistreatment, which is why Woolworths took measures to protect its employees from harm. Numerous reports of assault, including verbal, physical, and sexual, were brought to the attention of executives at the supermarket giant.

Woolworths Director of Stores Rob Moffat told reporters: ‘Nobody deserves to be abused at work, so it’s important we look at new measures to help keep our team members safe.’

Staff now wear body cameras while on shift. Credit: Woolworths Group AU

He added that the new body camera system is already widely used in retail across the US and the UK, and was found effective in reducing the rate of reported incidents.

‘The cameras will only be turned on as a last resort if a supervisor is concerned about a threat to team safety,’ Mr Moffat continued.

For added security measures, the captured footage will only be made available to the supermarket’s legal teams and to the police, when appropriate and for the sake of the other party’s privacy as well.

Well, these ‘team safety’ cameras were spotted by a shopper at their local store and posted to TikTok.

‘Woolies employees are now using body cams,’ they said in the video.

Many were in favour of this change, but others weren’t as keen. Credit: aussiehumour1/Pexels

Many social media users praised Woolies’ decision to take swift action against abusers. ‘Great idea, keep the staff safe,’ shared one.

‘That’s smart in a way,’ added another.

Someone else commented that the abuse put on employees every day is ‘horrendous’.

‘Enough is enough!’ They continued.

Others expressed disappointment over the fact that Woolies had to take extreme measures because staff had suffered so much in the past.

‘Isn’t it sad that this is what it’s come to for service staff?’ said one.

‘The way some customers treat them, I’m not surprised,’ a second added.

A retail worker chimed in: ‘Wish I had one. Customers will literally try to have a smackdown over the smallest thing.’

Another recalled their experience when they worked at Woolworths. ‘Minimum once a week, someone would threaten to kill me,’ they shared.

Someone else said that while she was working during one Christmas rush, her register broke down. This prompted the customer she was serving to ‘spit on her’. ‘The camera just missed the culprit’s face. She got away with it,’ she said.

However, some viewers called this security measure an ‘invasion of privacy’.

‘Why are they filming me when I’m shopping?’ One asked.

‘What’s next? Tasers?’ Another added.

Key Takeaways

• Woolworths implemented a security measure last year to protect staff from abuse and assault by using body cameras in some of its stores.
• Customers reacted in various ways such as praising the initiative, while others claimed it was an invasion of privacy and expressed sadness that such a measure was necessary.
• Retail employees have deemed the initiative fair, and have shared their own stories of abuse while at work.
• The footage recorded will be stored on Australian servers, and only be available to the store’s legal team and the authorities, when appropriate.

What can you say about this security measure, members? Have you spotted staff at your local store wearing these? Let us know your thoughts below!

 

[Penny4]

I can't understand why supermarkets don't employ a full time security guard. Lots of stores do.
I realise it would be due to cost cutting, however security guards are trained to deal with bad behaviour/crime compared to supermarket staff.

 

[DLN]

Indeed, it is absolutely terrible that retail employees can be treated so badly and subjected to abuse, especially the young. However, have these body cameras been properly tested to stay on a person's body all day? Being positioned so close to their hearts, will they cause serious health problems as time goes on? After all, they likely use EMFs in order to operate, like mobile phones. Like a lot of things that get implemented though, there is a beneficial side and a hidden agenda (in this case, an invasion of the privacy of the completely innocent). Just a thought.