GEMEINSAM.SICHER: Successful violence prevention project goes into the next round

Employees in the food trade have to deal with a lot of people every day and in the course of their work are confronted with challenging situations such as aggressive customer behaviour or even assaults. In order to actively counteract these situations, several measures were implemented within the framework of the project “GEMEINSAM.SICHER” (safe together), a cooperation project between the Corporate Security Department of REWE Group Austria and the Vienna Provincial Police Headquarters. These measures help to show the employees of BILLA, BILLA PLUS, PENNY and BIPA the correct behaviour for dealing with difficult situations. 

Knowing how - with the right know-how to more security 

More than 1.9 million customers visit one of the more than 2,500 REWE International AG stores (BILLA, BILLA PLUS, PENNY, BIPA) every day to do their shopping. Unfortunately, many employees in the shops are confronted with verbal abuse, organised shoplifting or even robberies and physical assaults. In the past, employees in so-called hotspot branches were particularly affected by high psychological stress, but the Corona crisis has led to all stores being increasingly confronted with highly emotional and even aggressive behaviour by customers. 

Together with the Vienna Provincial Police, employees of affected stores are trained in violence prevention measures and possible scenarios are practised in a playful way in order to learn the right behaviour in dangerous situations by experts of the Vienna Police. 

"Our employees give their best every day - ensuring their safety is a top priority and we implement a bundle of measures: from training to close cooperation with the authorities and increased presence of police officers on site. GEMEINSAM.SICHER has been a showcase project for years and will continue to help ensure that our employees are well prepared even for difficult situations," Raz Manne, Head of Corporate Security at REWE Group Austria, is convinced. 

LPD Vienna Major General Dudek: Prevention and communication are crucial 

For Major General Karlheinz Dudek, Director of the Office of Strategy, Organisation and Service Enforcement at the Vienna Provincial Police Directorate, prevention work and good communication between police inspectorates and store managers are crucial for more safety at work: 

"We have further expanded the initiative GEMEINSAM.SICHER in recent years and are now also cooperating intensively with REWE Group. The exchange and cooperation between the police officers and the employees of the trading company are particularly important. Since the beginning of the cooperation, attacks on staff have been reduced many times over. Their sense of security has been significantly increased. In addition to the ongoing exchange, it is above all the online training tool "Security in Retail" that has ensured this successful path." 

Successful project to be continued 

From the e-learning tool specifically designed for employees in retail businesses on legal issues and on how to behave in order to prevent criminal acts, to de-escalation of highly emotional situations in customer contact: it is evident that the measures are taking effect. "The many positive feedbacks from our employees as well as the facts encourage us to continue on our chosen path. The successful project GEMEINSAM:SICHER will be continued," Raz Manne is pleased to say. 

Enquiries & contact: 

Daniel Fürst
Vienna Provincial Police Headquarters
Phone: +43 1 31310 72105
E-Mail: daniel.fuerst@polizei.gv.at

Paul Pöttschacher
Press Officer | Head of Theme Management 
Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Trade International
Phone: +43 2236 600-5267
E-Mail: p.poettschacher@rewe-group.at