'Help at the push of a button' | Spat at and pushed down stairs - Openreach rolls out new app to help protect employees

Broadband network provider Openreach is launching a new personal safety app for all of its 27,000 employees, following a surge in abuse and assaults which have become the leading cause of injury among its workforce.

Created by Peoplesafe, the app will help protect Openreach’s engineers and office-based staff in the event of safety incidents when they’re working alone, at height or just on their commute to and from home.

Recent incidents involving Openreach engineers have included being spat at, pushed down stairs, threatened with dogs and knives, punched and kicked and even barricaded into homes and vans.

Since April last year, Openreach has recorded around 700 incidents of either physical or verbal assaults and threats, including incidents where employees have needed time away from work to recover. They’ve also seen an increase in racially motivated incidents.