whs
workplace violence
and its costs
Maureen
Kyne
Maureen Kyne
and Associates
What is Workplace
Violence?
“Incidents where employees are
abused, threatened, assaulted or
subjected to other offensive behaviour
in circumstances related to their
work.”
I
write this article after reflecting on a
workplace investigation I undertook
last month and the connection it has to
some of the workshops I have conducted in
relation to workplace behaviour.
The investigation started with one
complaint that involved six employees and
rapidly became fourteen. The disturbing
factor throughout the investigation was
the acceptance for behaviour that had
crossed the line, otherwise illegal. The
issue I struggled with was that a couple of
Whilst physical violence is easy to identify,
it is the existence of psychological violence
that has been long underestimated.
Psychological violence is often perpetrated
through repeated behaviour of a type,
which may seem minor, but cumulatively
escalates to a serious form of violence. It
often consists of repeated, unwelcome,
unreciprocated and intended action that
may have a devastating effect on the target,
not to say a single event would constitute an
act of violence.
• abusive
It involves the misuse of physical and
psychological strength, it is behaviour that
is uncivil. It includes harassment, bullying
and mobbing.
• threatening
To menace, hurt or injure resulting in fear
of physical, sexual or psychological harm
or other negative consequences to the
target(s).
24 Australian Window Association Summer 2015
To add to the complexity, the unlawful
behaviour was impacting the employees
outside of work.
Figures from The Victorian WorkCover
Authority estimates that workplace violence
costs $57 million per annum. Compared
with international studies, it could be much
higher.
It can be Physical and/or psychological
Often physical and psychological violence
overlap one another, making it difficult to
categorise different forms of violence. Some
of the most frequently used terms are:
For more information, contact Maureen Kyne:
employees in leadership roles thought the
behaviour was not serious enough to act on.
• physical assault
To physically injure or attack a person(s)
leading to physical harm.
• harassment
It can be unwelcome conduct - physical
or psychological, verbal, non-verbal,
visual; based on the protected attributes
under EEO legislation such as age,
disability, domestic circumstances, sex,
sexual orientation, race, colour etc,
including sexual harassment.
• sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual
behaviour, which could be expected to
make a person feel offended, humiliated
or intimidated. It can be physical, verbal
or written.
• bullying
Is a form psychological harassment. It
occurs when a person or a group of
people repeatedly behave unreasonably
towards a worker or a group of workers at
work where the behaviour creates a risk
to health and safety.
With violence comes stress for the targets,
other employees, the employer and those
outside of the workplace.
t. 1300 136 146 m. 0437 022 246 e. [email protected] w. www.maureenkyne.com.au