Inside Housing reported Freedom of Information results from more than 200 councils in England, Scotland and Wales. Those authorities recorded 4,403 assaults against housing staff in 2025, up 16%. About 82% were verbal. Physical assaults made up 8% and rose 9% where councils replied in both years. A survey of 29 housing associations recorded 3,338 assaults, up 20% year on year.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires employers to protect the health, safety and welfare of employees so far as is reasonably practicable. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require a suitable and sufficient assessment of risk. The Health and Safety Executive defines work-related violence as: 'Any incident in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work.' This includes verbal abuse or threats face to face, online and by telephone, as well as physical attacks. It can come from members of the public, customers, clients, patients, service users and students. The incident must be connected with the work activity.

The Hyde Group is a large housing association and a G15 landlord. It says it owns or manages around 125,000 homes. Chief operating officer Neal Ackcral wrote that threats and assaults on customer-facing colleagues have risen. Across G15 and CASE members, 16% of those roles were verbally or physically abused in 2024. Hyde closed offices six times in 2023 after threats. Hyde calls its response a zero-tolerance approach. That is organisational practice. It is not a named statutory duty of its own.

The Pembrokeshire Herald reported that a 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named because of his age, was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court on 3 September 2026. He attacked Vicki Williams in an empty classroom shortly after 3pm on 5 February. He asked her to check his work, then produced a kitchen knife from his bag and struck her in the head. She suffered a wound to her scalp, scratches to her back and cuts to her hands. She has not returned to work. The jury convicted him of wounding with intent and cleared him of attempted murder. He had admitted possessing a knife on school premises.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require schools, as employers, to assess foreseeable risks and put effective controls in place. There is no single statutory rule requiring a second adult in every classroom. The assessment must reflect the activity, timing, isolation, known behaviour and available emergency response.

BBC and The Independent reported that RNLI volunteers were targeted after anti-migrant protests in Dover on 5 September and Portsmouth on 6 September 2026. Names, photographs and, in some reports, home addresses were shared online. Posts branded crew as traitors. RNLI chief executive Peter Sparkes said some volunteers and staff had faced online abuse and, in the worst cases, physical abuse. He called it wholly unacceptable. The charity said it was enhancing security, reviewing procedures, and advising people that, where appropriate, they could choose not to wear RNLI branded clothing in public. Volunteers were told they could leave a conversation or close for the day if they needed to. Sussex Police said it was supporting the RNLI and checking whether social media content was criminal.

Health and Safety Executive guidance says that an organisation with at least one employee must include volunteers in its risk assessment where its work activities expose them to risk. It should provide volunteers with the same level of protection as employees carrying out similar activities and facing the same risk. The legal position arises under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Organisations run only by volunteers may instead fall outside that Act, although civil duties can still apply.

The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 is the current law in Great Britain. From 26 October 2024, Equality Act 2010 section 40A requires an employer to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees. Sexual harassment here means unwanted conduct of a sexual nature. It is not a general violence duty and not third-party liability on its own.

Employment Rights Act 2025 section 20 is planned to commence on 30 October 2026. It will change the Equality Act 2010 section 40A duty to all reasonable steps, while remaining limited to sexual harassment. Employment Rights Act 2025 section 21 is planned to add liability where an employer permits a third party to harass an employee because it failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it. The provision uses the harassment scope in Equality Act 2010 section 26. It does not cover every protected characteristic. Employment Rights Act 2025 sections 20 and 21 remain prospective. The government timetable gives 30 October 2026, subject to parliamentary processes. Re-check commencement before publication.