Broadband Engineer Targeted by Aggressive Driver While on Duty
A senior broadband engineer for Openreach was nearly run over by a van driver while performing routine repairs in Midhurst, Surrey, last June. Adrian, the engineer involved, was working in a road box with proper council authorization to close Rumbolds Hill for a vulnerable customer's fix when the incident occurred.
Sudden Attack During Routine Work
"I was in a road box, up to chest height, then all of a sudden, I hear this commotion," Adrian told Metro. "I see traffic cones being thrown across the road. This man – he didn't even speak to me – was throwing them before he got in his van, drove up the pavement and at me."
Adrian slapped the side of the van to signal the driver to stop, prompting the driver to shout, "Don't hit my f***ing van." The engineer noted there was "no reasoning with this guy." Later that evening, when Adrian returned to complete the repairs, the same individual hurled verbal insults, shouting, "I want to drive my 'effing car up here."
Alarming Rise in Assaults Against Engineers
Since April last year, Openreach has recorded approximately 700 incidents of physical or verbal assaults and threats against its employees. This marks a significant increase from about 450 incidents the previous year and is nearly ten times the volume reported almost a decade ago. Assault has now become the leading cause of injuries among engineers, surpassing risks like falls from ladders or tripping over potholes.
Engineers have faced severe abuse, including being spat at, racially abused, pushed down stairs, threatened with dogs and knives, and even barricaded into homes. Adam Elsworth, safety director at Openreach, explained that around 45% of field engineers' work involves entering customers' homes to tinker with WiFi routers or install cables, placing them in vulnerable situations.
Safety App Provides Critical Protection
In response to the incident, Adrian utilized a safety app developed by Peoplesafe, a workplace safety service tailored for Openreach's 27,000 staff. The app features an SOS alarm to silently call police, a sensor-based fall alarm, and GPS tracking. After Adrian pressed the panic alarm, officers arrived within minutes, defusing the situation and allowing him to work safely.
"I've never had an app like this," Adrian said. "If I fell unconscious – sometimes we work kilometres in the countryside on our own – who's going to find me?" He added that the app's utility extends beyond work, noting, "Women can use the Peoplesafe app on the way home. If it was going on a night out in town, I know I could use it. It spans more than just being an engineer."
Disturbing Patterns of Abuse
Adrian, with nine years of experience as an engineer, shared harrowing accounts from colleagues. One engineer encountered a home littered with dog faeces; when he refused to work in such conditions, the customer physically threw him out and set dogs on him, resulting in a knee injury that ended his field career. "Customers can be like an advent calendar – you don't know who's behind the door," Adrian remarked.
Historically, engineers used coded phrases like "talk to Albert" to discreetly signal trouble to Openreach's control room. Elsworth warned that reported figures likely underrepresent the issue, as some staff normalize abuse as part of the job. "These incidents, like what happened to Adrian, have an impact on them," he said. "They knock on the next door and think, 'What am I going to see next?'"
Calls for Legal Reforms to Protect Workers
Openreach has joined telecoms giants in advocating for updated laws to better protect field engineers and other customer-facing workers. Last year, the Institute of Customer Service (ICS) sent a letter signed by 100 co-signatories, urging the government to extend protections beyond retail workers to include engineers. The proposed crime and policing bill, not yet law, would make assault on a retail worker a standalone offence amid a retail crime epidemic.
"The Government must act now to enshrine vital protections for all our service workers; without action now to create a strong deterrent, this problem will continue to grow," the letter stated. Sussex police confirmed they are investigating the June 4 incident in Midhurst, where an engineer reported being threatened and subjected to verbally aggressive behavior by a van driver.
Ensuring Safety for All Service Workers
Adrian emphasized that everyone should feel safe while working, highlighting the broader need for workplace safety measures. The rise in assaults against broadband engineers underscores urgent calls for systemic changes to safeguard those in customer-facing roles, ensuring they can perform their duties without fear of violence or abuse.
