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• Introduction• Definition• Types of Violence at work place• Risk factor for violence• Job at Risk Violence• Prevention
introduction
• Violence at work place involve unlawful activities that direct to legal action or police investigation that can result in criminal procedure.
• Violent acts include: physical and non-physical assaults (hitting, kicking, beating, squeezing, and so on)
• can have a dramatic impact on the health, safety and welfare of workers
• cause significant economic and social costs to the victim, their family, the business in which they work and the wider community
• The Guidance for the Prevention of Stress and Violence at Workplace published by Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH ) in 2001 to overcome this problem under the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994
• designed to help employers, employees and their representatives identify the potential for violence at work and to provide practical guidance for the development of risk reduction strategies
Other Laws
• Britain main legislations concerning workplace violence can be found in the Employment Relations Act 1999 and, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
• New Zealand Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 is published to develop a guide for employers and employees alike on how to handle workplace violence
• United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an official body that identify the hazards of workplace violence
• International Labour Organisation (ILO) workplace violence is not exclusively a Western phenomenon become a global concernEuropean countries such as France and Romania head the
list of countries in which the frequency of incidents of workplace violence is reported to be the highest (McNamee, 1998)
• Based on the ILO survey, workplace violence has not yet reached an alarming situation in Malaysia, but this is not to deny its existence in Malaysian
Cases of aggression and violence in various workplaces in Peninsular Malaysia
Source: Labour Department
• 1996 568 reported cases of aggression and violence in various workplaces in Peninsular Malaysia.
• The same source also indicated a rise in the number of reported cases between 1997 and 1998.
1997 4271998 676
• Between 1990 and 1998 almost 4,000 cases of violence and aggression filed at the Industrial Courts
• Highest number of incidents recorded between 1997 and 1998
• The violent behaviours that have been reported to the Labour Department include cases of sabotage, fighting at work, threat, assault, and harassment.
Source: David Kanagaraj, personal communication, 22 February 2000
• Any action, incident or behaviour that departs from reasonable conduct in which a person is assaulted, threatened, harmed, injured in the course of, or as a direct result 1 of, his or her work.
Internal workplace violence is that which takes place between workers,
including managers and supervisors.External workplace violence
is that which takes place between workers (and managers and supervisors) and any other person present at the workplace.
• DOSH– Incidents where employees are abused, threatened,
assaulted or subject to other offensive behaviour incircumstances related to their work
• NIOSH
– violent acts, including physical assaults and threats of assault, directed toward persons at work or on duty
• WHO
– The intentional use of power, threatened or actual, against another person or against a group, in work-related circumstances, that either results in or has a high degree of likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation”
Types Of Violence at work Place
Table 1. Typology of workplace violenceType Description
I: Criminal intent •The perpetrator has no legitimate relationship to the business or its employee•Usually committing a crime in conjunction with the violence. Eg: robbery, shoplifting, trespassing, and terrorism.
II: Customer/client •The perpetrator has a legitimate relationship with the business•Becomes violent while being served by the business. •Includes: customers, clients, patients, students, inmates, and any other group for which the business provides services. •Worker who may be exposed: Police officers, prison staff, flight attendants, etc.
III: Worker-on-worker•The perpetrator is an employee or past employee of the business •Attacks or threatens another employee(s) or past employee(s) in the workplace.
IV: Personal relationship
•The perpetrator has a personal relationship with the intended victim. •Includes: victims of domestic violence assaulted or threatened while at work.
Sources: CAL/OSHA 1995; Howard 1996; IPRC 2001.
• Assault/Attack• Threat• Abuse• Harassment• Sexual harassment• Bullying/Mobbing
SOURCE: OSHA GUIDANCE FOR THE PREVENTION OF STRESS AND VIOLENCE AT THE WORKPLACE
Assault/Attack
• Attempt at physical injury or attack on a person leading to actual physical harm.
• Example:– Beating– Kicking– Slapping
Threat• The deliberate verbal or written expression or
other specific implication of intent to inflict bodily injury, death or other harmful results that a reasonable person would perceive as a danger to the personal safety of themselves or others.
• Types of threat:– Veiled: involves reference to a violence act and an
association with the present situation– Conditional: contain words such as “if” or “or” and
references a violent act with the condition– Direct: warning of a pending violent act.
Abuse
• Behaviour that departs from reasonable conduct
• Involves the misuse of physical and psychological strength.
• Includes – Harassment– Bullying– Mobbing.
Harassment• Any unwelcome verbal, written or physical
conduct that either denigrates or shows hostility or aversion towards a person on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, political affiliation, or disability.– has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating,
hostile or offensive work environment– has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering
with an employee's work performance– affects an employee's employment opportunities or
compensation.
Sexual harassment• Sexual conduct that is unwanted, unwelcome, or
unsolicited. • Includes requests for sexual favours which are
inappropriate and offensive.• Categories:• Sexual coercion/ Quid pro quo : results in some
direct consequence to the victim’s employment. • Example: A superior (has the power over salary) attempts
to coerce a subordinate to grant sexual favours. If accedes->job benefits will follow. if refuses->job benefits are denied.
• Sexual annoyance/Hostile environment : sexually-related conduct that is offensive, hostile or intimidating to the recipient, but has no direct link to any job benefit.
• The annoying conduct creates a bothersome working environment which the recipient has to tolerate in order to continue working.
• Form of Sexual harassment– verbal harassment: e.g. offensive or suggestive
remarks, comments and jokes– non-verbal/gestural harassment: e.g. hand signal or
sign language denoting sexual activity.– visual harassment: e.g. showing pornographic
materials, drawing sex-based sketches.– psychological: e.g. repeated unwanted social
invitations, relentless proposals for dates or physical intimacy.
– physical harassment: e.g. inappropriate touching, patting, pinching, stroking, brushing up against the body, hugging, kissing, fondling, sexual assault.
Bullying/Mobbing• Repeated, unreasonable actions of individuals (or a
group) directed towards an employee (or a group of employees), which is intended to intimidate and creates a risk to the health and safety of the employee(s).
• Often involves an abuse or misuse of power.• Bullying includes:
– Behaviour that intimidates, degrades, offends, or humiliates a worker, often in front of others.
• Creates feelings of defencelessness in the target and undermines an individual’s right to dignity at work.
Risk factor for violence at work place
• There are many factors that can lead to violence.
• There are consists of three factor that contribute to the violence at work place.
• The factor are Individual factors, Environmental Factors, Social and cultural factors.
• Some of the other factors include anxiety, vulnerability, and low morale.
1) Individual factorsa) History of violence:
Such as an individual with a documented history of violent or aggressive behavior. For example, you as a supervisor, may get a new employee in your workforce who had to be moved from his/her past job because of exhibiting violent or aggressive behavior toward a former coworker
b) Hate group membership: Such as an individual who expresses his or her severe
prejudices by being a member of a "hate group." This person is at risk of responding to the groups actions, including perpetrating violence at members of the target group.
c) Evidence of psychosis:Such as an individual who holds false beliefs about
people and their motives; have conversations with him/herself; or, who's appearance becomes disheveled over a period of time.
d) Depression:Such as a usually outgoing and good spirited
person who becomes withdrawn, unusually quiet, and/or exhibits extreme signs of stress.
e) Pathological blamer: Such as a worker who continually says, "I'm not a fault"
and will not accept responsibility. f) Elevated frustration:
Such as an individual who refuses to come to work and complains about everything.
g) Interest in weapons: Such as a person who displays obsessive interest in
weapons or explosives through informal discussions and mannerisms.
h) Chemical dependence: Someone who displays signs such as being late for work,
being unable to get along with co-workers, even though you may not know he/she has a chemical dependence.
i) Time spent at workLength of time at work was able to predict
workplace aggression such that the longer hours a person worked, the more likely they were to report aggression. Two possible reasons are:i. First, the more hours worked, the greater
statistical probability of being victimized. ii. Second, longer hours worked could
contribute to fatigue and frustration. This in turn may increase the likelihood of aggressive actions towards co-workers.
j) GenderGender has been shown to be a significant
predictor of workplace aggression. For example, being male has been shown to be significantly related to reports of aggression against supervisors. Furthermore, males are more likely to commit aggressive acts in the presence of other men. Females, on the other hand, are no more likely to act aggressively in either the presence of females or males.
k) AgeAge is significantly related to aggression. In their
study of age and job performance, Ng and Feldman (2008) found that older workers (age 40 or older) engaged in less workplace aggression than younger workers.
l) Alcohol consumptionThe frequency and amount of alcohol typically
consumed by a person predicts aggressive behavior. Those who consume more alcohol more frequently are more likely to aggress against a coworker (Greenberg & Barling, 1999).
2) Environmental FactorsThe following attributes can create a "toxic
work environment" within an organization which can worse ill feelings among employees and military members and can lead to an increased potential for violence. Many times, supervisors are responsible for bring up this environment.
a) Existence of hostile or threatening work environment- Allowing aggressive conduct, the existence of hostile or threatening work environment to persist under your supervision, or ignoring and taking no action for thefts, fights, sexual or racial harassment, intimidation or other behaviors viewed as hostile by employees.
b) Highly authoritarian management style- This can cause feelings of oppression and frustration among workers.
c) Lack of employee participation in the decision making process- Workers feel they are merely "assembly line
workers" and have no contribution to the direction of the organization.
3) Social factors
a) Workplace changesCertain changes in the work environment can
lead to increased aggression which they attributed to heightened anxiety and stress. Specifically, changes in management, increased monitoring systems (e.g., increased computer monitoring), increased diversity, and the increased use of part-time employees all were related to higher levels of workplace aggression.
b) Adverse economic conditions- Stress increases significantly during times of economic upheaval. Financial problems at any age may trigger negative survival responses from employees and result in unpredictable behavior.
c) Organization justice – Perceived interpersonal justice, the degree to which
people feel they are treated with fairness and respect, is negatively related to both psychological and physical aggression against supervisors (Dupre & Barling, 2006).
d) Supervision and surveillance Workplace surveillance (employee
monitoring) is positively related to workplace aggression against supervisors, such that the greater the number of employee surveillance methods used, the greater the amount of workplace aggression .
Furthermore, supervisory control over work performance has also been shown to be positively related to workplace aggression against supervisors.
f) Job-specific characteristicsOther antecedents of workplace
aggression found in the literature are specific job characteristics. LeBlanc and Kelloway (2002) found that certain job features, such as handling guns or collecting valuable items, were significantly more related to workplace aggression.
JOB AT RISK VIOLENCE
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND
HEALTHSuch a finding is further corroborated by previous studies which have documented a number of factors that may increase a worker's risk for workplace assault (Di Martino & Masri, 2001; NIOSH, 1996), which include:
1.Contact with the public2.Exchange of money3.Delivery of passengers, goods, and services4.Working alone or in small numbers, and5.Guarding valuable property or possessions.
HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE
Employees whose job requires them to deal with the public can be at risk from violence. Most at risk are those who are engaged in:
1. Giving a service2. Caring 3. Education 4. Cash transactions 5. Delivery / collection 6. Controlling7. Representing authority
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
Certain occupational groups tend to be more at risk from workplace violence. These occupations include:
•Health care employees•Correctional officers•Social services employees•Teachers•Municipal housing inspectors•Public works employees, and•Retail employees.
CORRECTIONAL OFFICER• Working in a correctional institution can be stressful
and hazardous.• Every year, correctional officers are injured in
confrontations with inmates. • Correctional officers and jailers have one of the highest
rates of nonfatal on-the-job injuries.• First-line supervisors/managers of correctional officers
also face the risk of work-related injury. Correctional officers may work indoors or outdoors.
• Some correctional institutions are well lighted, temperature controlled, and ventilated, but others are old, overcrowded, hot, and noisy.
Correctional officers inspect mail and visitors for prohibited items.
SOCIAL SERVICE EMPLOYEES• Child, family, and school social workers- provide social services and assistance to improve the social and
psychological functioning of children and their families.• Medical and public health social workers- provide psychosocial support to individuals, families, or vulnerable
populations so they can cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses, such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, or AIDS.
• Mental health and substance abuse social workers- assess and treat individuals with mental illness or substance abuse
problems. Such services include individual and group therapy, outreach, crisis intervention, social rehabilitation, and teaching skills needed for everyday living.
Social workers help people resolve issues in their lives
Risk factors for work related violence in a health care organization
M J Findorff1, P M McGovern1, M Wall2, S G Gerberich1, B Alexander1
• Violence is the third most common cause of occupational death in the United States and the second leading cause for working women, accounting for 639 work related homicides in 2001,1 and nearly two million acts of non-fatal work related violence annually.2 Health care workers are at increased risk of non-fatal work related violence.3–5 Most studies addressing health care workers have focused on one occupation, nursing.6,7 Injury rates per 100 000 persons per year, based on workers’ compensation claims for selected health care occupations, included registered nurses (27), licensed practical nurses (88), medical managers (116), occupational therapists (222), nursing aides (289), and health aides (457), compared with an overall rate of 16.7 The vast majority of physical violence in health care is perpetrated by patients or clients.4,8–13
• Wed, 26/09/2007 - 09:22
Ministers are being urged to make retail crime a higher priority after new figures revealed an increase in threats and acts of violence against shop workers.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said incidents of physical violence against store staff have risen by 50 per cent over the past year, while threats of violence have more than doubled during the same period. Incidents per store also shot up by 18 per cent with verbal abuse episodes showing a six per cent hike.
Work related factors increase the risk of violence.
Certain work factors, process, and interactions can put people at increased risk from workplace violence. For example:
• Working with the public• Handling money, valuables or prescription drugs
(cashiers, pharmacists)• Carrying out inspection or enforcement duties
(government employees)• Providing service, care, advice or education (health
care staff, teachers)• Working with unstable or volatile persons (social
services, or criminal justice system employees)
• Working in premises where alcohol is served (food and beverage staff)
• Working alone, in small numbers (store clerks, real estate agents), or in isolated or low traffic areas (washrooms, storage areas, utility rooms)
• Working in community-based settings (nurses, social workers and other home visitors)
• Having a mobile workplace (taxicab)• Working during periods of intense
organizational change (strikes, downsizing)
Risk of violence may be greater at certain times of the day, night or years. For example:
• late hours of the night or early hours of the morning
• Christmas• pay days• report cards or parent interviews, and• performance appraisals.
Risk of violence may increase depending on the geographic location of the workplace. For example:
• Near buildings or businesses that are at risk of violent crime (bars, banks)
• In areas isolated from other buildings or structures.
Wednesday, 10 February 2010 13:53
KUALA LUMPUR -Azman Bahar (not his real name), in his late 20s and an administrative assistant in a private firm."I have been burdened with loads of difficult tasks by my superior officer. Even though my colleagues share the same responsibilities, I was the one who became the 'victim'.
"It is a rare occasion for me to leave office the moment the clock showed six in the evening, unlike my co-workers. Usually I am only able to leave at about 8pm. After completing a task, immediately I would be given another bundle of files even though the other workers are quite free," he told this writer.
Azman also complained that it was difficult for him to obtain leave. "Even when I showed a medical certificate, many questions were hurled back with some degree of sceptism," he said.
THE MEDICAL NEWSfrom News-Medical.Net - Latest Medical News and Research from Around the World
Majority of nurses experience workplace violence3rd February 2010 04:59
Three-quarters of nurses providing private and public care experienced workplace violence, but only one in six incidents were formally reported, according to study published in the February issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.
The majority (92%) said they had been verbally abused, 69% had been physically threatened and 52% had been physically assaulted. A total of 2,354 incidents were reported to the research team, with nurses facing an average of two to 46 incidents a year.
Prevention• It is essential that action be undertaken at different levels to prevent this
from happening:-a. primary level identify and address problems at the level of the
organization and the environmentb. secondary level interventions can be developed to help individual
employees or groups of employees coping with stress and violencec. tertiary level assistance can be provided to employees who have been
subject to violence to recover from it.• Developing a "quality" workplace culture• Environmental intervention• Organisational intervention• Intervention on the individual
Developing a "quality" workplace culture
• An "open" working.• An organisational culture based on tolerance, equal opportunities and cooperation• Issuing a clear policy statement:-
a. a declaration indicating a real commitment to make the issue of violence a real priority in the organisation
b. a caution stating that no violent behaviour or behaviour intentionally generating stress will be tolerated
c. an engagement in support of any action targeted at creating a stress and violence- free environment
d. a directive stating that supervisors and managers have a positive duty to implement the policy and to demonstrate leadership by example.
Environmental intervention• Improving The General Environment
a. physical features of a workplace can be a factor in either defusing or acting as a potential trigger for stress and violence.
b. Special attention should be given to the level and ways in which employees are exposed to reduce or eliminate any negative impact:-
noise odours illumination temperature humidity ventilation dust vibrations dangerous substances
• In the specific context of possible violence and aggression in the workplace, especially those open to the public, the design of workplaces requires special attention and involves the following additional factors:- crowding comfort of seating which is crucial especially where waiting is involved comfort and size of waiting rooms toilet facilities controlled entrances alarms security guards protective barriers surveillance cameras and systems to alert other employees that urgent help is needed
• Improving The Workstation Designa. design of the workstation is of fundamental importance in providing
employees with comfortable working conditions.b. It is recommended to use the following checklists to identify relevant aspects
in the arrangements of workplaces and of work seating:- Guidelines For The Arrangements of Workplace Guidelines For The Work Seating
• Improving The Interface Man / New Technologya. For a stress and violence-free introduction of new technology it is important
that:- new technology is introduced in a phased way new technology is spread by successful examples, starting with critical
applications and demonstrable benefits new technology is introduced through a large involvement of those
concerned and largely based on consensus new technology is introduced“ discretely' according to the real needs of
organisations and their employees; pace of work, working arrangements and pauses are human-tailored
rather than technology-driven.
Organisational intervention• Changing work practices
a. Organizational solutions can help in reducing the risks of exposure to criminal attack changing the job or system of work.
• Improving job content tasks performed are identifiable as whole units of a job rather than
fragments jobs make a significant contribution to the total operations of the
organisation which can be understood by the worker sufficient feedback on task performance and opportunities for the
development of staff skills is provided jobs are enriched with a wider variety of tasks job planning is improved overload is not excessive pace of work is not excessive
• Re-arranging working time adapt the length of working time to the workload avoid the massive recourse to overtime provide adequate rest pauses create autonomous or semi-autonomous teams dealing with their own
working time arrangements keep working time schedules regular and predictable arrange, as far as possible, shift schedules so that shifts are rotated rapidly, in
a forward fashion, and that the longest period of rest should follow the night shift
keep, as far as possible, consecutive night shifts to a minimum
• Circulation of Best Practices production of case studies concise way creation of networks among organisations with interest in similar issues organisation of informal visits and meetings among the parties concerned; informal communication via web and electronic newsletters. creation of
networks among organisations with interest in similar issues
Intervention on the individual• Selection
a. Selection may help in identifying those individuals who are more tailored to certain jobs, less likely to get stressed, frustrated or angered because of it, and consequently less prone to violent workplace responses.
b. Although selection may have an important bearing in terms of stress and violence prevention it should be used and interpreted with care and caution.
• Training and educationa. Regular and updated training is essential violence prevention.
communication skills which defuse and prevent a potentially threatening situation
developing competence in the particular function to be performed; improving the ability to identify potentially stressful and violent situations
preparing a "core group" of mature and specially competent staff who can take responsibility for more complicated interactions
Guidelines identify the special training needs and skills required preventing violence
• Fitnessa. Maintaining physical fitness and emotionally stable psychic conditions
• Counselinga. This should be carried out periodically and, in particular, on occasion
of high emotional stress and violent situations.
• Debriefinga. Involves meetings among staff and as many people as possible who
are concerned in the stressful or violent situation.b. This will give employees who suffer from victims of violence an
opportunity to let out their feelings and to share their experience with others.
c. External consultants may also be involved in debriefing activities.
• Violence at the workplace is becoming an increasingly worrying phenomenon.
• Many organizations including health system have acknowledged the existence of the problems but there are yet many others which throw a blind eye to the problems.
• We all need to build a safe and just working environment
• If employers and employees practicing the guidance for the prevention of stress and violence at the workplace, we can reduce this problem.
References• (OSHA)GUIDANCE FORE THE PREVENTATION OF STRESS
AND VIOLENCE AT THE WORKPLACE. (2001). Retrieved 3 29, 2010, from Department of Safety and Health Malaysia.
• Workplace Violence Prevention Strategies and Research Needs. (2006). Retrieved 04 01, 2010, from NIOSH: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2006-144/
• Workplace Violence. (1998, 12). Retrieved 03 30, 2010, from The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) : http://www.usda.gov/news/pubs/violence/wpv.htm
• http://www.tssa.org.uk/article-47.php3?id_article=1385• http://unionsafe.labor.net.au/hazards/
10717236108849.html• http://www.wao.org.my/research/sexual_harassment.htm