Week 9 - Workplace Violence Part 2 Flashcards
(63 cards)
Type 1
Member of the public with no legitimate relationship to the organization, usually committing a criminal act
Type 2
Member of the public who receives legitimate service from the organization (e.g., client, patient)
Type 3
an employee or former employee of the organization
Type 4
the spouse or partner of an employee
Risk Factors for Workplace Violence
- robbery is the primary risk factor for occupational homicide, but it is not the primary risk factor for nonfatal assaults (care roles)
Industries reporting high rates of nonfatal assaults
- health care
- education
- social services
- law enforcement
Occupational Risk Factors
- first overall risk factor is working with the general public
- occupational risk factors don’t always result in violence
SAV-T(1)
– A way of understanding the more specific risks associated
with situations or occupations
– More specific risk factors include:
* Scheduling
* Authority
* Valuables
* Taking care of others
Imminent Risk
– Certain roles are inherently risky, but what is the risk that someone faces then and there…
– Short-term risk of violence occurring in the current situation
Assault Cycle
– Model suggesting that violence occurs only after a
period of escalation
SAV-T(2)
– A means of identifying the imminent risk of workplace violence
based on the assault cycle
– Can recognize early signs during the escalation/triggering
phase
– More specific risk factors include:
*** Swearing
* Agitation
* Volume
* Threat **– once it gets to a direct threat, immediate cessation
of the interaction is NECESSARY
Type 1 Violence Prevention
- Increasing visibility*
- Reducing rewards
- Hardening targets*
Increase Visibility
For taxi drivers, means of increasing visibility include external emergency lights; global positioning system
(GPS) that allows the location of a driver in distress to be pinpointed; and in-car surveillance cameras that make it possible to identify perpetrators
* Bylaw in Ontario – reduced crime by 50%
– In retail establishments, increasing visibility has meant increasing the chances of someone witnessing
a crime
Target Hardening
– Focus on strategies (usually but not always physical designs) that make it difficult to assault employees
– Protective screens reduce the number of assaults experienced by
taxi drivers
– Includes training on how to deal with
robberies, etc.
Who are most common victims of nonfatal workplace violence?
Service providers—health care workers, teachers, social service workers, prison guards, and police officers
Environmental Strategies
– Effective lighting
– Security personnel
– Cameras, etc.
– Panic buttons
– Very similar to some of the strategies for Type I Violence
Organizational/Administrative Strategies
- establish policies and practices to prevent aggression
- written policy on what constiutes unacceptable behaviour
- – Policies encouraging the reporting of violence
– Management should stress importance of reporting acts of aggression, take all reports of aggression seriously, and ensure that employees are aware of the organization’s commitment to safety
Behavioural/Interpersonal Strategies
– Training may give employees confidence and a sense of
control to deal with potentially dangerous situations.
* Perceived control: hospital workers who received training reported
higher levels of perceived control compared with workers who did
not receive training.
* Perceptions of control are positively correlated with employee
emotional well-being and negatively associated with employee fear
of future violence.
– Training should incorporate customer service skills, de-escalation
tactics, methods for dealing with aggressive behaviour etc.
Preventing Violence: Type III Violence
- Violence from coworkers is less common but
still exists - Generally are not aggressive but react to certain situations in an aggressive way…
- Triggers:
– Unfair treatment
– Abusive supervision
– Role stress
– Job Insecurity
Preventing Type III Violence
– Eliminating or managing triggering events
– Improving interpersonal relationships in workplace
– Creating open and transparent environment
– Developing specific procedures for employees to resolve conflicts and discuss grievances
– Shared understanding of what is appropriate and what is not (e.g., ‘respectful workplace policies’)
Type IV Violence
– Intimate partner violence almost always is perpetrated by someone (e.g., spouse) outside the organization
– Managers and organizational decision makers must:
* Be educated about forms of intimate partner violence
* Be aware of the resources that are available to
employees (e.g. Employee Assistance Programs)
* Allow for temporary accommodation during a crisis
(e.g., offsite work, relocation)
Occupational Health and Safety Council of Ontario (OHSCO)
– Recognition
* Assessment of the general physical environment
* Identification of risk factors
* Assessment for specific risks
– Assessment
* Ranking of the level of risk applicable to specific jobs
– Control
* Providing guidelines and audit tools for the creation and
monitoring of policies and programs
Harassment and Bullying in the Workplace
- Harassment can occur as a single act
- Bullying is typically a sustained pattern of harassing behaviours
– Can be subtle
– Difficult to deal with in an organization - Bullying is often included as a form of
harassment (e.g., Ontario’s Bill 168)
– Not in all provinces (e.g., Nova Scotia focuses only on physical violence or threats)
