Workplace Violence
Workplace Violence
1. What is workplace violence?!
It is the violence or the threat of violence against workers. It can occur at or outside the workplace and can range from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and homicide, one of the leading causes of job-related deaths. Workplace violence is a growing concern for employers and employees alike.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), roughly 20,000 assaults and 792 homicides occurred at workplaces throughout the US in 2005. Such violence prompted the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to label workplace violence a “national epidemic”.
2. What leads to workplace violence?!
There are several causes for workplace violence including economic, social, psychological, and organizational issues.
Employees may refuse to confront aggressive behavior, which often stems from problems away from the job. Violence might be a reaction to issues that negatively affect employee’s lives, such as broken relations, employee layoffs, lack of support, mishandled termination and sudden behavior change. The unsatisfied employee takes out his anger against co-workers and supervisors.
Companies can better protect their workforce when they examine all causes of violence.
Violence in all its forms is a concern for both staff and management;
From the employee’s perspective; violence can cause pain, distress and even disability or death whether it’s a physical attack - which is obviously dangerous - and also verbal abuse that can damage employee’s health.
From the employers perspective; violence can lead to poor morale and poor image for the organization, making it difficult to recruit and retain staff and it can lead to extra cost for the organization such as having higher absenteeism rate, higher insurance premium, fines and severance payments.
3. Alternatives to reduce and prevent workplace violence:
A. Identifyingriskfactorsandsymptomsofworkplaceviolence
B. Developing &
1. What is workplace violence?!
It is the violence or the threat of violence against workers. It can occur at or outside the workplace and can range from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and homicide, one of the leading causes of job-related deaths. Workplace violence is a growing concern for employers and employees alike.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), roughly 20,000 assaults and 792 homicides occurred at workplaces throughout the US in 2005. Such violence prompted the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to label workplace violence a “national epidemic”.
2. What leads to workplace violence?!
There are several causes for workplace violence including economic, social, psychological, and organizational issues.
Employees may refuse to confront aggressive behavior, which often stems from problems away from the job. Violence might be a reaction to issues that negatively affect employee’s lives, such as broken relations, employee layoffs, lack of support, mishandled termination and sudden behavior change. The unsatisfied employee takes out his anger against co-workers and supervisors.
Companies can better protect their workforce when they examine all causes of violence.
Violence in all its forms is a concern for both staff and management;
From the employee’s perspective; violence can cause pain, distress and even disability or death whether it’s a physical attack - which is obviously dangerous - and also verbal abuse that can damage employee’s health.
From the employers perspective; violence can lead to poor morale and poor image for the organization, making it difficult to recruit and retain staff and it can lead to extra cost for the organization such as having higher absenteeism rate, higher insurance premium, fines and severance payments.
3. Alternatives to reduce and prevent workplace violence:
A. Identifyingriskfactorsandsymptomsofworkplaceviolence
B. Developing &