‘WORKING IN THE MOST DANGEROUS INDUSTRY’
PRISON staff are working in “the most dangerous and violent working environment of any industry”. The Prison Officers Association sounded this warning after figures showed the number of prison staff leaving jobs in Welsh prisons has almost doubled since 2010.
In the year to March 2010, there were 44 leavers. This is 41 fewer than in the year to March 2017, when there were 85 – a 93% rise.
Among the reasons for leaving, the vast majority, 30, resigned, 10 were dismissed for medical inefficiency and nine retired.
The figures are set against the backdrop of months of unrest in Welsh prisons. In December four prisoners barricaded themselves into a Cardiff prison cell in what was believed to be “in protest of being moved from Birmingham”. That was just days after HM Prison Birmingham was in lockdown for more than 12 hours, after hundreds of inmates seized control, stealing keys and equipment and trashing parts of the Victorian jail.
In July staff were taken to hospital after an incident inside Bridgend’s Parc Prison.
Prison officers received medical attention following an incident involving a prisoner.
G4S, who manage the facility on behalf of the Prison Service, confirmed that two members of staff were taken to hospital, although they would not confirm why.
Drugs have been reported as a growing issue in Welsh prisons, with nearly a fifth of prisoners in Swansea jail failing a drug test, according to the UK Government’s Prisons Annual Performance Ratings 2016 to 2017.
HMP Swansea came out with Wales’ worst figure, with the percentage of prisoners failing drugs tests at 19.1%, higher than all but a few English prisons and way off its target of 10%.
High figures were also reported in both HMP Cardiff and HMP Parc in Bridgend.
Mark Fairhurst, Acting National Chair of the Prison Officers Association, said staff were working in increasing levels of violence.
He said: “The attrition rate in Welsh prisons proves that prison officers are now working in the most dangerous and violent working environment of any industry.
“Prisons are so dangerous due to the type of prisoners we are now locking up, who fear no consequence, are extremely violent and have no respect for authority. This combines with the influx of the drug spice and contributes towards ever-increasing levels of violence and unsafe working conditions for all staff.
“In order to recruit and retain staff we need to increase starting salaries, give experienced staff consolidated pay rises and equip all officers with the equipment that can quell violence.”
In a statement a Prison Service spokesperson said: “We are determined to ensure that prisons are properly staffed and have invested £100m to boost the front line by 2,500 prison officers over the next 18 months
“Prison officer recruitment numbers are at their highest since records began and in Wales specifically, prisons have seen a net gain of 385 staff in the year to June 2017.
“We are committed to supporting staff who have been in the service for a long time, and are launching a retention strategy to help Governors ensure experienced staff remain in the service alongside the new recruits.”