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AWARE · UK Retail · Conversation guide

Talking about abuse after an incident

For Store, People, Operations and Loss Prevention teams. Use it in an Operations meeting, a Loss Prevention review, a People meeting, or a store or area managers’ meeting. Answer for your own business.

This is for reviewing how your business handles reporting and support, not for use with someone straight after an incident. If you discuss a real incident, use an anonymised example and don’t identify colleagues or customers.

What workers tell us

82%report being verbally abused by a customer in the past month
49%of those who answered are not required to report abuse, or don’t know whether they are
41%of those required to report who answered what happens next say a report is logged and nothing follows
60%of those who face abuse or aggression feel not very or not at all supported
  1. What are staff expected to report?

    Would two colleagues experiencing the same incident know whether it should be reported?

  2. Who turns a conversation into a record?

    When a colleague tells a manager about an incident, who makes sure it becomes a recorded incident, and how would you know if it didn’t?

  3. What happens after a report?

    Who reads it, who owns the next action, and does the colleague know what happened?

  4. What does support look like in a store?

    What happens for that colleague for the rest of the shift and on their next shift? What can the store manager actually do, and do they have the time, cover and authority to do it?

  5. What would your incident records miss?

    Look for patterns across stores, shifts and repeat incidents, and set your incident records alongside colleague feedback and absence.

Before you finish

What will we change?
Who owns it?
By when?
When will we check whether colleagues notice a difference?

Free webinar · Tuesday 17 November, 3pm GMT · 10am ET · 7am PT. The findings, live, and where an employer can start looking at its own response. Recording available. Register at theawareindex.com/webinar-uk-retail

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Based on 4,429 UK retail workers surveyed between 9 May 2026 and 21 September 2026 · October 2026 reading · responses to 21 September 2026.

AWARE is founded and funded by Reveal Media Limited. theawareindex.com

AWARE is founded and funded by Reveal Media Limited, which makes body-worn cameras and evidence management software for the sectors AWARE studies. Reveal Media Limited, registered in England and Wales, company number 04470201.
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