Bullying and Occupational Violence
Bullying is a community problem that exists in schools, workplaces and other organisations.
WorkSafe Victoria defines workplace bullying as repeated, unreasonable behaviour directed to an employee or group of employees that creates a risk to health and safety.
Bullying can have a serious effect on the health and safety of individuals. A WorkSafe survey of workers in November 2006 found 14% of respondents had been exposed to bullying at work.
Bullying and its human effects can undermine business efficiency and increase a range of costs like long-term sick leave as well as staff turnover and the associated replacement costs.
Bullying at a glance
Victorian workers compensation claims for bullying rose from 483 in 2000/01 to 739 in 2005/06. In context to the number of other workers’ compensation claims across Victoria this is relatively low. The increase in claims, however, indicates that community attitudes to workplace bullying have hardened and that it should not be tolerated and must be reported.
WorkSafe has prosecuted three cases concerning bullying, including what is believed to be the first in Australia in August 2004.
More than 100,000 copies WorkSafe’s anti-bullying guidance have been circulated since it was released in March 2003.
Of the 60,000 calls to WorkSafe’s advisory service (freecall 1800 136 089) each year, around 3000 are received from workers, health and safety representatives and business operators/managers seeking information about workplace bullying, how it can be prevented or to report its presence. About five percent of these calls resulted in follow-up visits by WorkSafe inspectors.
Bullying and the law
Employers have the primary legal duty for providing a healthy and safe workplace under Victoria’s Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. The duty applies to their own employees and to others in their workplace. This includes someone employed by a labour hire company is seconded from another division, company or organisation, and sub-contractors.
Employees have a responsibility to abide by safety standards and to co-operate with their employers actions to ensure a healthy and safe workplace is maintained.
Preventing bullying
Like all workplace health and safety matters, bullying is best handled by prevention.It is prudent that all workplaces have policies and procedures to prevent bullying and manage it if it occurs.
Policies should be developed in consultation between the employer, senior management, health and safety representatives and the general workforce. They must be used.
All workers need to understand the procedures for reporting and managing any matters that occur.
Download WorkSafe’s prevention guide Prevention of Bullying and Violence at Work.
WorkSafe’s role
WorkSafe’s role is to help employers and employees understand their rights and obligations. Prevention is our primary aim.
As with other areas of workplace safety, people considering making a formal complaint about bullying risks or incidents need a clear understanding of what constitutes bullying, and what they want to achieve. It is important that evidence of bullying activity which can be substantiated is provided to WorkSafe.
Where a formal complaint is not made WorkSafe inspectors can still visit a workplace to make inquiries about bullying concerns and check if appropriate policies, procedures and training are in place. They can also ensure there is compliance with other duties under workplace health and safety laws.
It is not WorkSafe’s role to mediate between parties involved in a bullying dispute. You may need to consider your options if things don’t go the way you want. WorkSafe’s Compliance and Enforcement Policy, including how to appeal against an inspector’s decision or non-decision (internal review) can be found here.
Dealing with bullying in your workplace
Where alleged bullying has not yet been reported at the workplace, the person contacting WorkSafe will generally be advised to do so to ensure the appropriate workplace issue-resolution procedure can be followed.
- Work through the established procedures which are often found on organisations’ websites and intranets.
- If you’re a worker talk to your manager, HR department, health and safety representative or union.
- If you are an employer your industry association can often provide helpful information in relation to the prevention of bullying or actions to be taken to ensure bullying activity ceases.
- Employees and employers can contact WorkSafe’s Advisory Service on 1800 136 089
