UNISON Scotland’s Workplace Violence Report 2026 records 94,987 violent incidents against public sector staff; equivalent to 260 incidents a day.
The report was presented at the National Health & Safety Seminar on 8 October 2026. It draws on responses to UNISON’s annual Freedom of Information (FOI) request to Scottish local authorities and associated bodies.
Workplace violence: the reported figures
The report states that incidents rose by 26% compared with 2025, with an additional 9,536 incidents reported.
Reported incidents by sector:
- Local government: 57,038
- Health: 29,458
- Police Scotland: 6,471
- Housing associations: 1,546
- Higher education: 103
- Further education: 86
- Fire & Rescue: 77
- NDPBs: 42
- Leisure trusts: 157
- Scottish Government: 8
- Scottish Water: 11
These figures cover reported incidents only. UNISON believes under-reporting remains widespread across all sectors and estimates that the true total could exceed 120,000.
The picture in Edinburgh
Copies of the report have been circulated to all of Edinburgh’s political parties and the council’s senior management team for further discussion.
More incidents are being reported at Edinburgh Council. This is a welcome step towards understanding the scale of the problem, but more work is needed to ensure every incident, accident, near miss and instance of verbal abuse is reported, recorded and properly investigated by management and trade unions.
UNISON City of Edinburgh continues to raise concerns about RIDDOR reporting. Only 26 reports were made to the Health and Safety Executive in the last 12 months, from a workforce of 20,000 employees.
Raise it. Record it. Report it.
UNISON also requested figures on sexual and racial abuse and harassment. Reported numbers remain extremely low, and UNISON is concerned that these incidents are under-reported.
Help make sure the scale of the problem is recognised: report all incidents, including verbal abuse and near misses.
Our campaign
Workplace violence is “NOT PART OF THE JOB” and never has been. UNISON will continue to campaign and highlight this serious issue.
UNISON Health and Safety Team