Openreach using 'panic alarms' amid escalating abuse of engineers

From scissors being brandished as weapons to verbal abuse and being trapped on a home visit, the number of reported incidents of abuse and assault on Openreach telecoms engineers is on the rise.

- Mark Sweney

Openreach, the BT subsidiary that maintains the vast majority of the broadband network serving UK homes and businesses, recorded 450 reports of abuse and assault in the year to the end of March.

The number of incidents involving Openreach employees was up 8% year-on-year, a 40% increase on 2022-23 and seven times the volume reported almost a decade ago.

Abuse and assault has for the first time become the largest cause of injury to Openreach office staff and its 22,000 field engineers. Managers believe the number of incidents is even higher, as many cases are not reported.

"I used to be worried about people falling off ladders, road traffic accidents or tripping over potholes," said Adam Elsworth, the health and safety director of Openreach. "But we have seen a steady increase in violence and abuse. A quarter of all the accidents we record are now someone being attacked or abused, and it is continuing to rise. I struggle to see the rationale behind the escalation."