Licensing
Conflict Management

The main causes of trouble in pubs include:

• Arguments between customers

• Customer having too much to drink

• Customers who have used illegal drugs

Protecting Staff:

• Identify those members of staff who may be at risk

• Young staff may be more at risk because they are less experienced and may find it difficult to spot potentially volatile situations. They are also more likely to be picked on by the trouble-makers as easy targets. Make sure they know who is in charge and who they should go to if they have a problem. 

• If you employ 5 or more staff you will need to keep a written record of your risk assessment and tell staff what to do in any of the situations you have identified. 

Situations which may cause conflict:

• Refusal to sell alcohol to customers who appear underage.

• Refusal to sell alcohol to a customer who is drunk. 

• Refusal to sell alcohol after the time specified on your premises licence. 

• Busy premises where customers may have to wait to be served leading to customer impatience and hostility.

• Crowded premises-you may need to limit customer numbers and train staff in how to refuse entry when the limit has been reached. Check your premises licence-it may specify a limit on the number of people who are allowed on the premises at any one time.

• Keep trouble at bay-recognise the signs of potential aggression, train your staff in this too. Don’t respond to aggression with aggression but try to stay calm. Keep body language open and avoid prolonged eye contact.

If there is an incident:

• If it is an argument between customers consider if there is somewhere you can take them away from other customers who wont ‘egg them on’.

• Call the police-it is better if the call comes from the Designated Premises Supervisor or a member of staff rather than a local resident outside the pub. 

• Record any incident, even one which seem relatively minor, in your incident log - this is part of your due diligence. 

Note: Certain incidents of physical violence must be reported to the Health & Safety executive under RIDDOR (eg incidents where a member of the public is taken from the scene to hospital).

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