HARD LABOUR - Part 3 - section 6
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Recommendations on tackling violence at work

Employers' legal duties on preventing the risk of violence to their employees are the same as those outlined for prevention of stress in general, and indeed for any workplace hazard. However, the following points of health and safety law are particularly important to highlight when considering policies on tackling violence at work.

  • employers must provide safe systems of work (HSW Act, Section 2)
  • co-employees must not pose risks to any other employee's health at work (HSW Act, Section 7)
  • employers must conduct a suitable and sufficient assessment of the hazards to which their employees are exposed whilst at work (MHSW Regulations, Regulation 3)
  • safety representatives have a legal right to fully investigate any incident of "violence" occurring at work (SRSC Regulations, Regulation 4)
  • HSE inspectors and environmental health officers, when they are responsible for a workplace, can:
    1. Enter any workplace to inspect and investigate
    2. By use of an improvement notice, order the employer to achieve employee protection
    3. By use of a prohibition notice, ban an employer from engaging in work that puts employees at risk
    4. Prosecute employers who fail in their legal duty.

In 1992, the HSE served its first enforcement notice relating to violence on an employer when it ordered Rotherham Borough Council to reduce the risk of violence and make the working environment safe for its workers (Bargaining Report May 1994). The improvement notice followed campaigning by the local government union NALGO (now part of UNISON) after a rent collector was killed on her rounds.

The response to violence whether it is from members of the public or from colleagues and managers, is the same - violence at work is unacceptable and responsibility lies with employers, in consultation with workers, to:

  1. eliminate it,
  2. if unable to eliminate it, to reduce violence to the lowest possible level and, finally
  3. to protect employees from any residual risks.

Steps to take include:

  • setting up a means by which employees can report and record all instances of violence or bullying
  • employers must provide information, instruction and training on workplace procedures to a.) tackle violence and b.) to break down the perception that violence is an "acceptable" feature of work
  • reviewing safety policies to include sections on violence and bullying or, better, issuing separate guidelines or a code of practice
  • including bullying as a disciplinary offence for all employees regardless of work status
  • Violence or bullying to be dealt with by grievance procedures ??? [ask Mike] re discipline is not adequate.
  • involving the HSE or local environmental health officer. Draft proposals to revise the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations include a requirement to report to the HSE incidents resulting in employees being hospitalised or off work for three days or longer (Health and Safety Commission 1994)
  • raising the issue in all union and joint union-management consultative committees and requesting a response (training, information and where necessary, funding) from your union.

What to ask for

This list is not exhaustive but provides examples of things to aim for in negotiations on dealing with violence at work.

Changes in work practices

  • improved levels of staffing
  • provision of secure buildings or work areas
  • withdrawal of service where risks are not tackled

Access to facilities and equipment

  • provision of alarms, both personal and workstation based
  • provision of protective equipment when appropriate
  • safe transport at times of risk
  • provision of portable communications equipment e.g. mobile phones

Changes in management practice

  • setting up systems of incident recording
  • making evaluations of incident records a standing item on safety committee agendas
  • providing budget allocations for upgrading security measures
  • assessing risks specifically to address violence from all sources
  • developing, with worker consultation, violence policies that include regular policy evaluation and review
  • using disciplinary measures to tackle abuse by supervisors
  • providing regular training
  • pursuing criminal prosecution of assailants.

Many unions have negotiated policies on dealing with violence at work. Despite its length, we are reproducing below in full the policy negotiated between UNISON and Oldham Metropolitan Borough in 1993 as an example of a comprehensive agreement based on the recognition by the Council that its employees are its most important resource, that violence and the risk of violence is a cause of workplace stress, and that employers have a responsibility to reduce the risk of violence to their employees.

Oldham Metropolitan Borough Code of Practice. Violence at Work. March 1993

The Council's Commitment

Through the introduction of a policy to address the increasing frequency of violence towards local government employees, the Council has committed itself to the objectives of reducing the risk of violence and to supporting employees who have been victims.

Oldham Metropolitan Borough is totally opposed to employees being at risk from violence at work. The Council considers its employees its most important resource and any complaint of violence at work will be treated seriously, and maximum help and support will be given to the victim.

This document has been written so that the policy on Violence at Work, and its implication, may be easily understood.

1. What is Violence at Work?

1.1 The Health and Safety Executive's definition of violence is: "Any incident in which an employee is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances arising out of the course of his or her employment".

1.2 Verbal abuse or threats are the most common forms of violence, but physical attacks are becoming more frequent.

1.3 The Council and Trades Unions recognise and accept that, locally and nationally, there is an increase in violence, and this policy addresses the problem.

1.4 The Council recognises the particular vulnerability of isolated and front-line workers, and believes that exposure to violence is not an acceptable part of their job. The Council also recognises the specific vulnerability of women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. Violence includes not only physical attacks but threats and fear of violence, verbal abuse and harassment.

2. The Effects of Violence at Work

2.1 Both the employer and the employee have an interest in reducing the incidence of violence at work.

2.2 For the employee, violence can cause pain, disability and even death. More often, however, it causes anxiety and stress-induced illness. Any such damage to the health of employees is unacceptable, and the policy addresses this.

2.3 For the employer, violence at work can cause low morale, high absenteeism, high insurance rates and compensation costs.

2.4 Managers and Supervisors should be committed to reducing risks from violence. They should also support employees who have suffered violence. SUPPORT means providing an opportunity for the employee to share any feelings resulting from the incident with colleagues or outside counsellors as the need arises.

3. The Implications

3.1 All necessary steps must be taken to identify and eliminate the incidence of violence to employees during the course of their work. This involves developing the ability of employees to manning and deal with potential and actual violent situations.

3.2 In addition, the necessary support and appropriate remedies should be available to employees during and after violent situations. This includes access to non-departmental advisors and counsellors where requested.

3.3 There should also be, on a continuing basis, a development of policies and practices in respect of preventing violence against employees.

3.4 Finally, all departments need to increase awareness of the implications of potentially violent aspects of jobs. This is to be done by paying attention to: job design, accommodation, management and supervision, work organisation, recruitment and selection, training. Such awareness is a key component in reducing the incidence of violence.

4. Obligations, Rights and Responsibilities

4.1 It is the right of all employees to be at work in an environment which is as free as possible from the risk of violence.

4.2 it is also the right of all employees to expect management to take all possible steps to ensure their safety during the course of their work. Any known risks should be dealt with immediately.

4.3 In addition, in appropriate cases, employees should have the right to financial, legal and personal support in the event of them being the victims of violence arising out of the course of their work.

4.4 Employees should also have the right of access to the necessary and most appropriate form of counselling in the event of violence at work.

4.5 It is the responsibility of management to ensure that safety of all employees during the course of their work and to participate in the development of a support network of counsellors within the authority.

4.6 Departments will provide the names of volunteers who will be trained as counsellors and who will be available to provide support and advice to those who have been subjected to violence.

4.7 Departments will introduce an incident report book, similar to the existing accident report book, and record all incidents of violence. [The workplace accident book can be used to record any incident relating to workplace health and safety, including violence and the stress and other symptoms that may result. LHC]

5. Complaints

5.1 Where there is a complaint of violence at work, it is understood that employees may well differ in their perception of the seriousness of the incident. Complaints should not be trivialised. They should be reported on the incident form.

5.2 Apart from asking for brief details, the form also asks for the events leading up to the incident, and the outcome in terms of damage or injury. There is also reference to any previous problem with the person involved; aggression can escalate over a series of meetings.

5.3 In addition, where actual bodily harm has occurred the statutory documentation must be completed. This is to protect the statutory rights of the injured employee.

6. Procedures

6.1 The Chief Officer of each department is responsible for the co-ordination of policy and practice in respect of violence at work.

6.2 Where an incident form is completed, a copy must be forwarded to the Personnel Department, who will be responsible for the overall co-ordination of policy.

6.3 Support, in the form of advice or counselling, should be available immediately, but it should be accepted that the victim may prefer this to come from someone outside the immediate work group. (A list of names will be provided).

6.4 In certain cases, any appropriate financial, legal and personal support will be available to employees involved in violent incidents or harassment leading to criminal or civil proceedings.

7. Communication, Training and Monitoring

7.1 The policy will, through this document, be circulated to all existing employees. A summary of this will form part of the Recruitment Pack for any prospective employees. Posters and other publicity material will be circulated to all Council work places.

7.2 Corporate and departmental training programmes will be developed to increase awareness of violence as it affect people at work. This will include a definition of violence; how and why it can happen; an understanding of how even the threat of violence can cause tension, stress and sickness; and help to prevent violent incidents.

7.3 Training will also be given to identify areas of potential risk in work situations along with skills for coping with aggression and violence should it arise.

7.4 As part of the commitment under the violence at work policy, individuals will be identified across the authority to become counsellors. They will receive training in dealing with an initial response to victims of violence, including recognition of when to pass on a "client" to a professional, and also in the confidentiality aspects of such responses. A victim will be free to choose any such trained counsellor.

7.5 These procedures do not preclude victims from consulting their union representative. All the recognised unions have welcomed the initiatives of this policy, and are prepared to provide peer-group support to victims.
Hard Labour Part 3 - section 6
© 1994 London Hazards Centre, Interchange Studios, Hampstead Town Hall Centre, 213 Haverstock Hill, London NW3 4QP, UK

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