Everyone in this day and age deserves to feel safe at work. And yet there is a community of workers who experience verbal abuse, threats and physical violence on a regular basis. Shop workers are in the front line when it comes to dealing with the public and it appears that the level of violence they are experiencing is dramatically on the increase (this issue page 8). Of course, it is impossible to know whether figures are on the rise due to increased reporting of incidences or whether our high streets and shopping centres have become magnets to antisocial behaviour and premeditated crime. As in most of these cases, the consensus view is that it is a little of both.

Either way, EHPs have been equipped with an armoury of legislation to help protect these vulnerable workers and some local authorities have chosen to make the welfare of shop workers a health and safety priority. By using the existing legislation: the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, Riddor, the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 and the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996, the profession can make a difference by making employers assess the risk to their staff.

In Westminster, EHPs armed with these pieces of legislation managed to decrease crime levels in some of London's worst affected internet cafes by around 80 per cent. By anyone's standards this is a good result. Initiatives are springing up around the country, many on the back of the shop workers union Usdaw's campaign Freedom from fear. If they even approximate the sort of results experienced in central London then this could prove to be a powerful health and safety initiative.

Also this month, CIEH chief executive Graham Jukes (page 5) writes about the re-launch of EHJ in September and how the new revamped magazine will give members more of what they want. Over the last five months we have been asking you, the readers, what you want from EHJ, either by directly canvassing for views through the magazine or through a series of focus groups. The answer we have got is that you want more practical help on how to do your job, more human interest to connect you with colleagues across the country and a more modern, vibrant and concise magazine. What we are currently putting together will meet all these criteria as well as excite, stimulate and engage. On page 7, we ask you to kick off a problem page and write in with job-related problems that you would like to share with your work colleagues. We also want to hear from you about reunions, retirements and new job appointments that will be of interest to EHPs around the country. Finally, we want to hear about the humour that we all know exists among the varied and fascinating tasks that you all do each day. This is a dynamic and fascinating profession and the re-launched EHJ will bring to life the vast array of issues that the 21st century EHP has to tackle each working day.