Improving colleague safety at Matalan: How body cameras are becoming part of the uniform

“We knew the cameras would be a useful presence in instances of suspected theft – where a colleague may be asking a customer to open a bag, or challenging them on something they have seen.

But we also wanted them to support our front-of-house and Customer Service colleagues where things go one of two ways: the customer accepts the returns policy and walks away, or things become more threatening. In these cases the managers are always called down to interact with the aim of de-escalation.”

The Reveal camera’s front-facing screen is designed to de-escalate behaviour: when the person sees themselves on screen, they not only understand the exchange may be recorded, but they are confronted with their physical behaviour and language, which often compels them to self-moderate the way they express their frustration.

The Matalan pilot showed that the presence of cameras alone was often enough to de-escalate situations, without the need to switch them on.

With support material from Reveal, Dawn Williams drew up the protocols for the company’s use of the cameras, and some very simple guidance and training.

“The camera couldn't be any simpler: it's literally just one slider button when you want to engage it. So, for staff training we put a simple e-learning together along with some context about the technology – normalising by referencing the NHS use of it.

We have found it really helps new colleagues if we do a little bit of a role play with the camera so they can get a real sense of how it feels when customers know when the camera's on and they can see themselves on the screen.

We also find it useful to talk about evidence capture - what would happen to any footage. Initially, we had some concern from colleagues that we would be filming them all the time, but it was a simple comms exercise to tell them that this is only switched on for incidents of violent or aggressive behaviour.”

Sadly, during and following the pandemic, the problem of aggressive behaviour has not gone away.

“I’d say the problem has got steadily worse. It seems to be regular behaviour now to speak to retail colleagues in a certain way, which is terrible for them and could have a real impact on recruitment and retention for our sector. So, we made the decision to roll out the use of body-worn cameras so that every store has at least one camera now, and those where we see more regular incidents have up to four cameras.”

Matalan ask all duty managers to wear a body camera. These colleagues are in a position of responsibility and are the ones who would be called over to support staff during any heated exchange. It’s important to stress again: the presence of the cameras does a lot of the de-escalation. Dawn estimates that across the whole Matalan estate, there is an average of just one recorded incident a week that is escalated to her in the security team.

We definitely have stores that that use the body cameras as a back-up to CCTV; so, they turn cameras on for all interactions with suspected shoplifters. That kind of evidence capture is not how we intended the cameras to be used, it was always led by colleague safety, but when we do have incidents of theft, then the quality – both video and audio – provides excellent evidence for reporting to the police. But as I’ve said: the most important thing for us, as a business, is colleague safety, and them feeling safe and valued.