Spearheaded by Balfour Beatty, the End Roadworker Abuse campaign is gathering media traction and public awareness, with widespread national coverage shining a light on the urgent need for change.
The campaign was recently covered by The Times, The Independent and reinforced across broadcast media, including BBC Radio 4, Times Radio and BBC Radio 5 Live. It was also featured on Good Morning Britain in April.
Matt Herbert, Balfour Beatty's head of health, safety and wellbeing, told The Times: 'What we need the members of the public to fully understand is that these people are there to make their journey better and not there to take abuse. We need a culture change.'
Speaking about the measures Balfour Beatty has in place to protect its frontline workers, Balfour Beatty's reactive maintenance supervisor, Brenton McLean, told Radio 4: 'As soon as somebody sees a body worn camera, they will calm down. Same with our conflict resolution training – it helps the guys on the road be able to talk to members of the public and explain what it is we're doing while keeping the situation as calm as possible.'
This momentum builds on the recent launch of the roadworker abuse survey, which is being led by Balfour Beatty on behalf of the wider industry, and is aimed at getting a better understanding of the scale, frequency and impact of the issue on frontline colleagues.
A 2025 ITV News survey of more than 250 UK road workers and traffic officers found:
- Nearly all had experienced verbal abuse.
- Over half had been threatened with violence.
- One-third had experienced actual violence.
- More than 25% suffered abuse most days, and another 25% at least once a week.
