BODY WORN CAMERAS HEALTH AND SAFETY ASSESSMENT

Our ref: HSR

 

Head Office Circular: NP/131/25

1^st August 2025

To: The Secretary

All branches 

Regional Councils 

 

Dear Colleague

 

BODY WORN CAMERAS HEALTH AND SAFETY ASSESSMENT

 

Your RMT national Women’s Conference submitted the following resolution:

 

More TOCs are putting pressure on staff to wear body worn cameras.  Whilst these have a part to play in evidence gathering, they are not the only answer and shouldn’t be used to increase lone working or to reduce staffing levels.  They don’t make lone working safer.  They aren’t live watched and do not protect staff from assault.  The worst assault on SE last year, involved the camera being used as a weapon.

 

As a woman, there are particular concerns about the cameras.  They attach to your clothing by a magnet.  No risk assessment has been done regarding this strong magnet being against your breast for many hours every day.  There’s mixed evidence to ensure no one faces an increased risk of serious illness through using a camera with a magnet attachment.

 

The other way to attach a camera that is offered to me involves screwing a holder through your clothes.  This may be acceptable for a jacket (if the company replace them regularly when the holes get too big) but it is not acceptable in summer on a blouse.  The camera is heavy and causes the clothing to fall forward.

 

No woman should be forced to wear a camera unless they are completely happy with the risks and how it attaches to their uniform.  There should also be guarantees from all companies that misuse of footage – whether secretly recorded or openly recorded by a colleague will not be used in disciplinary proceedings.  My company’s current favourite is a ‘learning review’ where footage is used to discuss performance.  We all work in a high-pressure environment and do our best to aid the public and do not need additional pressure from managers who have months to review footage and make decisions, while we have seconds.

 

This conference wants a thorough Health and Safety assessment of how cameras attach to our clothing and for all TOCs to be reminded that use of them is voluntary.  All regional organisers should contact companies using BWV and ask what cameras they use, how they attach and for a copy of the risk assessments related to the cameras and also the attachment to the uniform and any risks from the materials used in their production.

 

This information should then be reviewed by the Health and Safety committee for their recommendations.  Any risk to our health should be accessed and communicated to all members.  Remembering that men can get breast cancer too.

 

If the evidence is inconclusive the union should commission their own research study.

Our health and wellbeing is potentially at risk.

 

 

At its meeting on 29^th July 2025, your National Executive Committee noted and adopted the following report from its H&S subcommittee from when it met to consider the resolution from RMT Women’s Conference:

            

We note the resolution from RMT women’s conference, and the issues raised in this – many of which are covered in existing RMT policy. Given this we instruct the General Secretary to:

 

• write to RMT Regional Organisers to remind them of “RMT Body Worn Camera guidance” (which can be viewed here). The guidance explains RMT policy, which is that the wearing of body worn cameras should be voluntary. The General Secretary is to request that Regional Organisers address the issue if this is not the case with their link employers, or if there is a voluntary agreement but the Company behave as if it is compulsory, to tackle this also
• to remind the Regional Organisers that the RMT policy on body worn cameras, includes a paragraph on ‘wearability’, which explains that there needs to be a risk assessment of body worn cameras suitability for the staff that will be wearing it.  For this to meet the legal standard of ‘suitable and sufficient’, the assessment should cover health issues related to the wearing of the cameras, such as those raised in the resolution. 

Additionally, we instruct the General Secretary to raise ergonomic matters as covered in the resolution, at industry violence at work working groups– as vital footage could be lost if the camera is facing at the ground. 

 

Any issues arising from these actions to be brought back before this NEC. 

 

Branches and Regional Councils to be informed accordingly. 

 

            I am acting in line with these instructions. Please bring this circular to the attention of all relevant members.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

Eddie Dempsey

General Secretary