e said.  “Our teams are being put in [dangerous] situations by customers – everything from inappropriate touching to verbal abuse to stalking.  It’s just constant for them. We’ve had customers spit on team members.” Lewis said the strain of dealing with aggressive and abusive customers is taking its toll on the mental health of team members, particularly in the worst cases where the authorities have had to be called.  “Our team members are being put in difficult situations. We’ve had to get the police involved [in some cases]. It’s having an impact on [their] mental health.” Rather than taking a classroom-style approach to this training for staff, it will be a short, online session that can be undertaken quickly and efficiently. There will also be resilience training rolling out next month to support the mental health of team members. Lewis said it’s the young females in the business that tend to be targeted the most. In a practical measure, headsets have been supplied to those on the floor so that they can alert a manager or team leader if they need help.  “It is a safety measure we’ve put in place that has been well received by our team so they don’t feel alone up at the registers,” Lewis said.  Abuse a weekly occurrence for a quarter of SDA workers  Retail and fast food workers union, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) said there has been an upsurge in incidents of customer abuse and aggression, particularly towards  junior staff, since the introduction of mandatory QR code sign in at stores in Victoria.  In a recent SDA survey of 2300 retail workers, 87.92 per cent reported being subject to verbal abuse. One quarter of them said it was a weekly occurrence. Incidents can include verbal abuse, spitting, swearing, gendered violence and physical assault. The union said it is engaging with employers to ensure the safety of staff, but is calling on the government to develop a national response.  Vic campaign calls on employers to step up In Victoria, where citizens have endured the most severe lockdowns in Australia, government agency WorkSafe recently launched a campaign aimed at both employers and community to stem violence in the workplace. “Violence can happen in any workplace – but workers in industries dealing directly with the public, including retail, can be more at risk,” WorkSafe executive director of Health and Safety Julie Nielsen told Inside Retail.  “No matter what the situation, no-one should face violence or abuse just for doing their job.”   A series of videos detailing the experiences of workers have been launched online and through social media to show the challenges faced by workers. An education and awareness campaign has also been created to inform and remind employers of their obligations to workers. Nielsen said everyone has a role to play in making a change and preventing workplace violence.  “Employers must work towards preventing workplace violence by ensuring systems are in place to identify and control the risks and the community should recognise that violence and aggression of any form is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the workplace,” she said.  “[It’s the responsibility of all employers] to create a work environment that prioritises the prevention of work-related violence and physical and psychological injury and builds a culture in which workers feel able to report incidents if they occur.”