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Skodel Newsletter · September 2026
Coles' Retail Violence Numbers and the Psychosocial Risk Behind Them
In this newsletter
| 1 | Skodel Case Analysis - Coles |
| 2 | Other Common Trigger Events |
| 3 | Hazards At Play |
| 4 | How To Use This In Your Workplace |
| 5 | Example Controls |
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Key Figures
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85%
rise in threatening incidents against Coles staff in Victoria over the past two years
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25%
of 3,000 retail workers surveyed by their union say they've been physically attacked at work
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| 1. Skodel Case Analysis |
Coles |
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In late August, Coles reported a sharp rise in threatening incidents against staff, and put real numbers behind what retail workers have been saying for years.
| • Threatening incidents against Victorian staff are up 85 per cent over two years, and up 65 per cent nationally. South Australia was the only state to record a fall, down 16 per cent. |
| • CCTV released alongside the figures showed a customer wielding a hammer at staff, and a security guard thrown bodily into a checkout machine. |
| • A union survey of 3,000 Australian retail workers found 88 per cent had experienced verbal abuse at work, and 25 per cent had been physically attacked. |
| • Coles COO Matt Swindells described a threatening incident as "verbal assaults or physical altercations, or in some instances using product as a weapon, like a bottle of wine or a tin of tomatoes." |
| • Ruth Sumner, a 30 year Coles employee, put it plainly. "The physical violence, irrespective of what anybody thinks, once is too much. Because once could end somebody's life." |
The angle most coverage misses is the cumulative toll. Coverage of the hammer incident and the thrown security guard is really coverage of the extreme end. The 88 per cent verbal abuse figure describes what's happening to nearly every customer facing worker, week in and week out, and that everyday exposure is a psychosocial hazard in its own right.
Reported by ABC News, 24 August 2026. Read Skodel's full case study at skodel.com/blog/coles-retail-customer-violence-psychosocial-hazard.
Let's look at some potential controls for a hazard like this
| • Violence and aggression. Run short, regular check ins with dedicated violence and aggression questions, rather than waiting on incident reports alone, so trends across shifts, sites or roles surface early, before they escalate. |
| • Poor support. Train staff in de-escalation, give them explicit permission to disengage without needing a manager's sign off first, and check in with them properly after an incident. |
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| 2. Other Common Trigger Events |
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A supermarket checkout is one setting for this hazard. It shows up just as often in roles that never make the news.
A home visit support worker seeing a client alone, with no quick way to leave if the visit turns aggressive
Violence and aggression |
A call centre agent taking abusive calls back to back on a busy day, with no built in time to reset between them
Job demands |
A lone worker finishing evening deliveries in an area with a history of hold ups, with no duress alarm or check in system
Remote or isolated work |
A reception desk with no barrier, alarm or nearby backup, fielding distressed or angry visitors all day
Poor physical environment |
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| 3. Hazards At Play |
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Violence and aggression
High
88 per cent of surveyed workers report verbal abuse, and a quarter report being physically attacked, with incidents rising sharply in Victoria.
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Poor support
Mod-High
How well trained, backed up and debriefed a worker is after an incident shapes how much that exposure costs them.
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Poor physical environment
Mod-High
Store layout, sightlines and the presence of duress alarms or security staff affect how an incident unfolds once it starts.
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| 4. How To Use This In Your Workplace |
| • Track incidents systematically, including verbal abuse and near misses, not just the ones serious enough to make the news. |
| • Give staff explicit, trained permission to disengage or call for backup, and make sure that permission holds up in practice, not just on paper. |
| • Review your physical environment and staffing levels against where incidents actually happen, rather than assuming your current setup is enough. |
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5. Example Controls
Starting points, not a checklist. The right controls depend on what your own people tell you through consultation.
Violence and aggression
| • CCTV and duress alarms. Fit customer facing points with CCTV, motion detection and duress alarms, backed by a genuine response protocol, not just cameras that record after the fact. |
| • Dedicated security presence. Roster visible security staff during the shifts, sites or periods your own data shows carry the highest risk, rather than spreading a single guard thin across the whole site. |
| • Store layout and sightlines. Design or adjust layout so staff always have a clear line of sight and a way out, and keep higher risk items away from unsupervised or self checkout areas. |
| • De-escalation training. Train staff in de-escalation, and give them explicit, practiced permission to disengage or call for backup without needing a manager's approval first. |
| • A clear escalation pathway. Set out exactly who to call and what happens next when an incident occurs, so staff aren't working it out under pressure. |
| • Post-incident support. Debrief staff properly after an incident, not just to close the paperwork, and watch for the cumulative toll of repeated lower level incidents, not only the serious ones. |
All 17 hazard categories, with practical controls for each.
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See it in Skodel
See how Skodel reports on this, and every other hazard
A short walkthrough of how violence and aggression, and the rest of the 17 hazards, show up in your Skodel reporting.
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Skodel · Psychosocial risk assessment for Australian workplaces · skodel.com
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