Violence and aggression at work is any incident in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work.’
It is important to remember that this can include:
- verbal abuse or threats, including face to face, online and via telephone
- physical attacks
This might include violence from members of the public, customers, clients, patients, service users and students towards a person at work.
For violence to be work-related, it must be in connection with the work activity. For example, the following situations would not be included in this definition:
- personal disputes between workers and other people, such as family members
- violence between people not at work, such as customers or service users
Work-related violence can have an impact on both you and your workers, including those who may witness an incident. It can cause:
- injury
- stress and mental health conditions
- disability or death
There can be physical harm, but serious or persistent verbal abuse or threats can also have a serious effect on a worker’s mental health.
For employers, violence can lead to increased staff sickness, poor morale, and a damaged reputation, making it difficult to recruit and keep staff. It can also mean extra cost, with higher insurance premiums and compensation payments.
As an employer, you must carry out a risk assessment to identify significant risks to your workers and implement effective control measures. A risk assessment alone will not reduce the occurrence of work-related violence, but the actions you take following on from it should. The first step in your risk assessment is to identify the hazards. A hazard is anything that can cause harm to people. Once you have identified the hazards, decide how likely it is that a worker could be harmed and how serious it could be. Think about whether there are any workers at different or additional risk.
Once you have assessed the risk of violence in your workplace, and where you cannot remove it, you must put the right controls in place to protect your workers. Often no single control measure will be completely effective on its own and it is best to use a variety of approaches. You should reduce the risks so far as ‘reasonably practicable’. This means balancing the level of risk against the measures needed to control the real risk in terms of money, time or trouble.
You must report any act of work-related violence that results in:
- death
- a specified injury
- a physical injury to a worker that means they are unable to carry out their normal duties for more than 7 days
You do not need to report but you must keep a record of any work-related injuries that result in a worker being unable to carry out their normal duties for more than 3 days.
RIDDOR only requires you to report accidents that arise ‘out of or in connection with work’. The work activity itself must lead to the accident. For example, an injury would not be reportable if it involves:
- one worker injuring another during a personal dispute
- a worker being injured by a relative or friend who visits them at work about a domestic matter
In addition to reporting incidents to HSE, you or your workers may also want to report instances of violence or intimidation to the police. To do this, you can use the local police force online reporting system, or you can call 101.
There can be a significant impact on workers who are directly involved and those who witness an incident. It can affect workers’ mental and physical health.
Here are some key points to consider:
- victims will react in different ways − consider changing a person’s job role or working conditions if they are particularly affected by the incident
- sensitive and appropriate support will reduce the victim’s suffering, for example offer them a chance to talk openly about the incident as soon as possible
- you can offer confidential counselling if your organisation provides this, or give them the details of local counselling services, or charities such as Victim Support
- make sure the workers dealing with post-incident situations are fully trained and know how to support their colleagues
For any further advice, phone us on 01691 688723 or email us at info@mbo.ltd and we will be happy to assist you.
Source of information: HSE: Information about health and safety at work