A new survey report published this week has shown that staff in prisons - including those delivering prison education - are having to run the gauntlet of physical violence and other risks to their health and safety when they go to work.
The Safe Inside survey, conducted by the Joint Unions in Prisons Alliance (JUPA) - a coalition of nine trade unions and professional associations representing staff across prisons in England and Wales - showed that staff are being subjected to shocking levels of violence and are routinely exposed to harmful drugs.
More than a quarter of staff (26 per cent) responding to the survey reported having been a victim of physical violence within the last 12 months. Of those, 14 per cent said they have been assaulted more than 10 times in that period.
Almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of respondents - who included prison educators, healthcare professionals and cleaning staff, as well as prison officers and probation workers - said they had felt unsafe at work over the past year.
Exposure to drugs
The survey also revealed worryingly high levels of staff exposure to harmful psychoactive drugs like Spice, with over half (53 per cent) of respondents saying they had personally been exposed within the last 12 months. Two-fifths (39 per cent) said they’d experienced worrying physical effects as a result, almost all (97 per cent) of them said the drugs had caused dizziness, light-headedness or tiredness. Around half (49 per cent) said they had experienced nausea and vomiting and more than a quarter (28 per cent) said they felt anxious and paranoid after they had been exposed.
For the University and College Union (UCU), these findings are shocking but sadly not surprising. Our members in prison education have been telling us for years how the combination of an ageing prison estate, creaking infrastructure and shortages of prison officers has been undermining efforts to create a safe working environment.
Right across the prison estate, staff at all levels are risking their own health and safety to deliver vital services like education and healthcare to prisoners. For prison educators, these concerns are all the more acute because of new commissioning arrangements.
That’s because many of these problems cannot be fully addressed by their employers - instead, they require changes to the wider prison regime. But by handing more power to prison governors over how education contracts are issued, the government has reduced the incentive to address health and safety concerns raised by education staff. Education providers may also be more reluctant to rock the boat by reporting their issues and concerns, for fear that their contract might not be renewed.
We can already see from the survey that many staff in prisons who experience abuse and exposure to psychoactive substances aren’t reporting these incidents when they occur. The reasons given for not reporting incidents include not having time to do so and not having access to reporting systems. Worryingly, eight people said they didn’t report their exposure to drugs because they were afraid to do so.
A change of culture
So what’s to be done? First, we need action to address the causes of violence and safety risks in prisons. That means reversing cuts to prison officers, which have put pressure on education staff to undertake duties like escorting prisoners that aren’t their responsibility and for which they aren’t properly trained. It also means joint work with unions across prisons to identify and address safety risks quickly and effectively.
We also need to streamline the reporting process. Many prison education staff currently have to complete two separate reporting systems: one for the prison and one for their own employer. This not only increases their workload, it means that national data on the number of assaults and incidents against staff working in prisons is fragmented. The government should replace the current array of reporting processes with a single, universal system that captures all health and safety information in one place.
Finally, we need to change the culture around reporting so that all staff are empowered to report their concerns. In the survey, a fifth (20 per cent) of those who reported a recent physical assault said that no action was taken in response - that has to change. The JUPA is calling for tougher responses to violent incidents so all staff can be confident that when they do report an attack, their welfare will be taken seriously.
Prisons are important centres for rehabilitation, but their success relies on the dedication of thousands of staff. They will always be tough environments to work in, but a failure to improve health and safety will only exacerbate problems with the recruitment and retention of prison educators. Urgent action is required to ensure that safety risks do not undermine the valuable work prison educators do to reduce recidivism and help offenders work towards a more positive future.
It’s time for the government to put its money where its mouth is when it comes to improving prison safety, and work constructively with employers, UCU and other trade unions to make sure all staff are safe inside.
Matt Waddup is the head of policy and campaigns at the UCU
