A Woolworths spokesperson has confirmed the move, which was recently trialled across Australia
A new video highlighting a new addition to the uniforms of Woolworths staff has raised eyebrows on social media.
Sharing on TikTok, a Woolworths customer revealed that a Woolies worker at a Western Sydney store had a body cam on the front of his uniform.
The footage shows the employee wearing a high-vis vest with a camera hanging around his neck, while he interacts with a shopper at the checkout.
A red sticker saying “Safety video recording” can be seen on the front of the device.
“Woolies workers now wearing body cams,” the TikTok user, who uses the handle @AussieHumour1, wrote.
A Woolworths spokesperson has confirmed that the supermarket has been trialling the cameras in selected stores to help protect workers.
“Since April last year, we’ve been trialling team safety cameras in a small number of stores to see if they can help prevent assaults and abuse of our team members,” the spokesperson told 7NEWS.com.au.
“Nobody deserves to be abused at work, so it’s important we look at new measures to help keep our team members safe. These cameras are used widely in retail across the US and UK and have been effective in reducing the rate of reported incidents.
“The cameras will only be turned on as a last resort if a supervisor is concerned about a threat to team safety.”
7NEWS.com.au understands that Woolworths has placed signage in each store to inform customers of the trial.
The cameras need to be turned on to capture footage and audio will not be recorded, and will only happen if a trained store supervisor deems it necessary.
Any recordings will be stored securely on Australian servers, and access to the footage will be limited to a small team of Woolworths security experts and law enforcement agencies where appropriate.
It’s understood the cameras were introduced following a spate of violent incidents at Woolworths stores at the height of the pandemic.
Some TikTok users were surprised by the move.
“Ain’t no way,” said one.
Added another: “Only in a few stores so far – stores that have had multiple instances of customers abusing staff have been given the option to wear a body cam.”