Superstore guards reveal daily toll of violence and abuse

Supermarket security guards are being abused and assaulted every day amid a surge in violence and shoplifting, according to GMB Scotland.

Our survey of security staff in one supermarket giant has exposed an upsurge in trouble in store. GMB Scotland polled members in Asda stores across Scotland when more than a third (36%) of guards reported being assaulted while 83% say they have suffered or witnessed verbal abuse, including racist insults and threats of violence. One in four have been assaulted.

They have been polled as Asda outsources security prompting fears of reduced staff numbers and increasing risk for workers and customers.

The survey reveals more than half (56%) of the security staff believe theft, violence and abuse has worsened dramatically in the last 12 months while 78% believe stores are more dangerous now than when they started.

One guard said: “It is constant. Every day someone is shouting and swearing at us or worse.

“You just have to let it roll over you but it is stressful and gets to you. You are on edge all the time.

“You never know when something is going to kick off or how badly.”

The findings of the snapshot survey of 100 guards working in stories across Scotland comes soon after a shoplifter was jailed for five years after a security guard died after a struggle at an Asda store in Arbroath.

Alun Harris-Richards, 61, suffered a fatal heart attack, fell to the ground and struck his head after trying to stop Natasha Smith from leaving the shop with stolen alcohol in June 2024.

The GMB survey reveals less than half (46%) of security guards at Asda feel safe at work while one in three feel at risk.

Four out of five (83%) have suffered or witnessed verbal abuse; 36% have been been physically assaulted; 26% have been threatened with weapons, including knives and needles; and 68% have confronted aggressive shoplifters.

John McCartney, GMB Scotland organiser, said the survey findings are alarming and expose the daily jeopardy faced by security guards.

He said plans to for security at Asda stores to be taken over by facilities management giant Mitie has prompted fears of reduced staffing levels and more risks for staff and customers.

More than half (53%) of guards surveyed say they already feel unsupported and vulnerable with many claiming to be uncertain about what being transferred to Mitie will mean for their pay and conditions.

McCartney said: “This survey must ring alarm bells at the most senior levels of the company.

“These are workers putting their personal safety on the line every day but are feeling isolated, vulnerable and unsupported.

“These staff demand every possible protection instead of uncertainty about what the future holds.

“Asda must immediately order a safety audit to ensure staff and customers are protected before staff are fully supported through this process.”

One security guard confirmed the threats, abuse and violence have got far worse in recent years.

He said: “It feels like an everyday thing now. Someone will kick off, shouting and swearing. You ask if they’ve scanned their bags and get an absolute mouthful.

“It seems to have got worse since Covid. People just seem a lot more wound up than they used to be, a lot quicker to kick off.

“It’s not pleasant but you just have to ignore the abuse, it’s when they start threats or saying they have knife or whatever, you just don’t know what’s coming next.

“I’ve been threatened with a knife, seen a colleague threatened with a hammer. Another had fingers broken trying to take a bag off a thief, another women colleague was pulled to the floor and kicked.

“It’s non-stop. It feels like there’s something happening every day.”

Another guard surveyed said one woman customers flew into a rage at Christmas when she realised the store had run out of turkeys.

He said: “She started ranting on and on about how my incompetence had ruined her ‘f-ing Christmas’.

“Then on Christmas Eve, another women blew up because there were no strawberries. She was going off her head.

“I tried to calm things down but, when I walked away, she threw an apple at my head.”

One guard said the threat of violence is common at work and the new rotas mean even fewer staff are on the floor to offer support.

He said: “A women dropped her purse in the store recently and someone went off with it.

“A group of her male relatives then demanded to see our CCTV. It got really ugly, with a lot of threats and aggression.

“A bigger group of her relatives came back at night when the police had to be called. It’s frightening.”