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Transport:
Sector-specific information on violence and stress

Scope and impact of violence and stress

The occupational risks of violence and stress in the transport sector have attracted increasing attention over the years, particularly when workers go on strike after colleagues have been attacked. The main tasks of transport workers include the transport itself, the provision of information to and the supervision of the “social safety” of the travelling public, the control of tickets and the prevention of vandalism and violent behaviour. Staff working in international and national transport services – including plane, ferry, train, bus, taxi and airport services – are potentially those most at risk of physical or psychological violence.

Transport workers are confronted with at least two leading potential factors of “dangerous workplaces”:

• public frustration about waiting times or services; and
• dealing with specific groups of members of the public whose behaviour is sometimes erratic and unpredictable, such as fare evaders, beggars, hooligans, people who do not comply with smoking or other restrictions, and people who have consumed excessive amounts of alcohol or drugs.

Taxi and bus drivers face a number of dangers, such as working alone at night, in high crime areas and with cash: they are often the targets of robberies and assaults. It has been estimated that taxi drivers have up to 15 times the average risk of exposure to occupational violence and are 60 times more likely to be murdered at work than workers in other fields. The taxi business is also highly stressful. The ever-increasing competition over prices, speed and efficiency in the transport sector has led to corresponding pressure on transport staff and operators to go beyond what is permitted in laws, rules and standards. This is a source of stress for many in the sector, and may be compounded by bullying, harassment and even physical violence.

Railway and airline staff are more prone to experience prolonged contact with abusive or disruptive passengers during journeys, where they may be considered trapped by such passengers in aircraft or train carriages, and the strain can become more pronounced. In the confines of a crowded aircraft at 30,000 feet in the sky, cabin crew cannot simply walk away from threatening or violent situations. Alcohol and tobacco were found to be the two main contributory factors to air rage, and violence was involved in about 10% of all incidents in 2002. These incidents involve even more serious concern, not only because of the injuries and fear caused to staff, but also the threat to flight safety. During the 2nd Worldwide Air Rage Campaign Day on 6 July 2001, civil aviation trade unions highlighted the need for governments and the air transport industry to take action against disruptive passenger behaviour.

A study on work-related stress among bus drivers found that it was an occupation with high risks for health and well being, with comparatively high rates of absenteeism and work-related disability. Lorry, bus, minicab and taxi drivers in many countries also complain of harassment and extortion by members of the armed forces, police officers and customs agents

A distinct aspect of violence in the transport sector is that such behaviour is often directed against passengers and staff alike. While public transport companies are mainly faced with external violence, there are also reports about internal violence, i.e. by managers, colleagues and others. Furthermore, railway workers, in particular train drivers and guards, are sometimes confronted with suicides and violent deaths. These can be a major cause of post-traumatic stress disorders that can last for years.

Gender aspects of workplace violence

Women are at much greater risk of certain types of victimization at work. Freedom from violence and harassment directed to women in the transport workplace is nowadays a key issue. Millions of women work in the transport industry world-wide, from taxi, bus, lorry and train drivers, to seafarers, port workers, airline staff, call centre staff, office workers and executives.

Women crew working on ferries have been reported to be victims of brutal attacks and female bus and taxi drivers have been stabbed or shot. The highest percentage of women transport workers is employed in the civil aviation industry, as cabin crew and check-in personnel. Women workers are in the front line of dealing with often irate and aggressive air passengers. Sexual harassment is a serious problem in civil aviation, which is sometimes allegedly provoked by the advertising campaigns of airlines that portray flight attendants as mere sex symbols.

A British union has found that women train drivers have experienced constant sexual harassment, making their lives “a misery”. It has also been reported that women road transport workers in Latin America often face employers who try to force them to have sexual relations, while those who refuse are forced to work night or very early morning shifts or in distant locations from home. Other reports claim that in South Africa and Mexico (among other countries), rape of women road transport workers is very common.

Reporting and monitoring

Reports from several countries indicate that the number of incidents of violence and aggression against transport workers in all sub-sectors has increased over the past decade, perhaps partly due to the increased attention given to the issue by the media and by transport companies. However, there is also considerable under-reporting, particularly with regard to verbal abuse. In order to better understand the magnitude of the problem and its personal and financial consequences, as well as to develop and implement prevention programmes, governments or concerned employers’ or workers’ organizations have commissioned surveys or special studies targeted on violence in the transport sector.

Additional information related to workplace violence and stress in the transport sector

• Violence and stress at work in the transport sector (pdf, 232k), Sectoral Activities Working Paper, WP 205, Geneva, 2003.
  

Conditions of Work
- Bus drivers: Occupations stress and stress prevention - pdf.
- Occupational stress and stress prevention in air traffic control - pdf

Department for Transport, United Kingdom
- Crime and Disorder on Public Transport
- Young People and Crime on Public Transport

International Transport Workers' Federation
- Violence in the transport workplace
- Research shows airlines failing to tackle passenger rage
- Zero air rage campaign - A world action day 6 July - 2001
- Zero air rage campaign - Model legislation on certain offences committed on board civil aircraft
- Resource book - Women transporting the world
- Unions to tackle violence against women
- International day for the elimination of violence against women

TAXI-L
- Criminal Intent Workplace Violence
- Rate of murdered taxi drivers
- How safe is taxi driving for women?