SOCIAL workers are being assaulted at a rate of about three a week and some of their families have received death threats, Aberdeen councillors will be told next week

For the past year the number and nature of violent incidents affecting the social work department have been recorded to give a clearer indication of the seriousness the problem.

When a staff member is subjected to violence he or she is offered counselling, if required, before filling in a form detailing the circumstances of the incident.

A social work report for the year showed that there were 239 instances of violence against the staff - 153 of them physical violence, 86 verbal, while the police were called following 49 of them.

''The actual nature of the incidents is diverse but ranges from verbal intimidation to obscenity to pushing, biting, kicking and punching. Threats of violence have been directed towards staff and their families including several death threats,'' the report reveals.

Aberdeen's assistant director of social work Dave Tumelty said such incidents were treated very seriously and explained that there had been cases in which clients had taken steps to track down social workers' home addresses to threaten them.

In a recent case a teenage boy received a telephoned death threat while his mother, the social worker, was out.

''It is to do with the work they are required to do,'' said Mr Tumelty. ''It is rare, it doesn't happen ever week, and it is largely connected to child protection issues.

''This is the first year we have run this kind of reporting system so there is nothing to compare with but obviously the figure is far too high. When these things happen we take steps to try and ensure they don't happen again or to minimise the risks, whether by increased security or co-working.''

Some staff have been issued with personal alarms and home telephone numbers have been changed.

''We also spend quite a lot of money training our staff how to deal with incidents like this,'' he said.

''They are taught means of calming people down when they (clients) become very aggressive. They are also taught how not to, inadvertently, get into a difficult position. If it is a client they know is aggressive, they don't let him get between themselves and the door and make sure there is nothing like ashtrays about that could be used as weapons - simple practical steps. They are taught how to defuse situations, how and when to call for help, and not press on with something when it is getting out of control.

''The courses are very well attended.''

He said the feedback was that the courses, run by their own training staff at Northern College, were very helpful.

Mr Tumelty said that the annual records would help establish if there was a pattern and where the measures they were implementing were having an impact.

''A lot of this is about giving the message to the staff that the department takes their safety very seriously indeed and we want to avoid the kind of culture which says 'it is part of the job'. In a sense we deal with difficult people in stressful situations but that does not automatically mean we accept a level of violence against staff.

''Part of that job is not being assaulted by members of the public.''