In Germany, a new risk-assessment framework for workplace violence prevention is gaining ground: the “Aachen model”, developed by insurer Unfallkasse NRW together with the Aachen police. Unfallkasse NRW is the statutory accident insurer for the public sector in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The model targets workplaces with a lot of public contact, which the source says are especially exposed to verbal and psychological violence. According to DGUV, Germany’s umbrella organisation for statutory accident insurance, around one in sixty registered workplace accidents is now the result of violence.
What does the Aachen model involve?
The model sorts workplaces into four risk levels, from low to high, and derives suitable protective measures from each. The levels are not strictly separated: prevention planning must always also take the next, higher risk level into account. Its starting point is “zero tolerance for acts of violence”. Under the model, preventing violence is a management responsibility.
How much violence occurs in the workplace?
In 2022, DGUV recorded more than 13,000 workplace accidents resulting from violence, threats and similar incidents. A survey of public-sector employees conducted for trade union confederation DGB by pollster Forsa in 2025 found that half of respondents had at some point been obstructed, insulted or attacked at work. 84 percent said interactions had become more disrespectful and abrasive. In addition, 38 percent had encountered digital forms of violence, such as online threats, and 13 percent had been directly targeted by them. DGUV already launched its “Gewalt angehen” (“Tackle violence”) campaign in December 2023 to make employers aware of the risk.
What measures can employers take?
Besides a risk assessment per role or location, the source stresses the importance of prevention in everyday interactions: respectful treatment and open, honest communication matter far more, it says, than isolated technical or organisational measures. Concretely, the source points to a company culture with a clear zero-tolerance stance, managers who enforce it and impose sanctions where needed, and structural attention to employees’ psychological strain.
Context
The problem is not confined to Germany. Estimates based on the Crime Survey for England and Wales put the number of incidents of violence or threats at work in England and Wales in 2024/25 at 689,000, affecting 329,000 workers. The risk is highest in occupations with a protective role (6.8 percent of employees) and in supporting occupations in health and social care (2.7 percent, averaged over 2023/24-2024/25). The figures are not directly comparable: DGUV counts registered workplace accidents, while HSE relies on a survey. Both nonetheless show that violence against staff is far from a marginal phenomenon.
Source: Haufe Arbeitsschutz: Aachener Modell: Gewaltprävention im Betrieb, 24 September 2026
Additional research: HSE, Violence at work statistics 2024/25
