ONS interviewer security incidents

FOI reference: FOI-2025-2933

You asked

I am writing to request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000:

1. In the most recent calendar year (or financial year, if that is how the data is held), how many security incidents were recorded during home visits conducted by ONS field interviewers?
2. Of those incidents, how many involved the activation of a panic button?
3. If available, please also provide:

• A monthly breakdown of the incidents;
• Any internal categorisation used to describe the type or severity of the incidents;
• The number of incidents (if any) which resulted in police attendance, injury to staff, or a formal internal investigation.

Please provide the information in digital format, preferably as a PDF or spreadsheet.

We said

Thank you for your request. 

Please see the associated excel spreadsheet, which provides the data requested. 

All Field Interviewers are issued and instructed to use a Lone Worker Device (LWD). The LWD is designed to protect the officer, when working alone, enabling them to raise an alarm should they feel threatened or in an emergency. The LWD offers several features including GPS tracking to enable the location of officers to be identified. The officer can easily and safely activate the LWD to send an alert or raise an alarm, to the Alarm Receiving Centre, to enable trained professionals to assess and respond to a situation. The response can include support being provided, or if required, calling the emergency services to respond using the GPS location to facilitate a direct and prompt response.