Shelf-stackers and checkout workers will wear the cameras, which company claims will be turned on only as a last resort

WoolworthsShelf-stackers and checkout workers will wear the cameras, which company claims will be turned on only as a last resort
Australian Associated Press
Sat 17 Apr 2021 00.50 EDT
Shelf-stackers and checkout workers will wear body cameras in a trial being rolled out at selected Woolworths stores across Australia.
The company said assaults in stores in 2020 had doubled.
Nobody deserves to be abused at work, so its important we look at new measures to help keep our team members safe, Woolworths director of stores, Rob Moffat, said.
Australians are more familiar with body cameras being worn by police but they are used in retail across the United States and the United Kingdom, where Woolworths said they had effectively reduced the rate of assaults and abuse.
The cameras would be turned on only as a last resort if a supervisor was concerned about a threat to safety, the company said.
Woolworths said there would be no audio and films would be stored securely on Australian servers. A small team of Woolworths security experts and law enforcement agencies, where appropriate, would be the only ones to have access to the footage, the company said.
Customers would be alerted to the cameras by signs in the stores.
The cameras are being trialled at 11 stores: Abbotsford, Millers Junction, St Albans, Sunshine Market Place and Hoppers Crossing in Victoria; Kempsey, Berala and Rosehill in New South Wales; Coolbellup in Western Australia; Rundle Mall in Adelaide; Redbank Plains in Queensland.
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