Violence in the Workplace
Overview
Everyone deserves to work in a safe environment without violence. Employers need to take steps to prevent violence in the workplace. Workers need to know how to recognize and respond to violence in the workplace.
Types of Workplace Violence
In B.C. workplaces, the term “violence” means that a person does one of the following:
- Attempts to use or actually uses physical force to injure a worker
- Makes threats or behaves in a way that gives a worker reasonable cause to believe that the worker is at risk of injury
Types of workplace violence include:
- Verbal or written threats that involve an intention to do harm
- Threatening or intimidating behaviour such as shaking fists, throwing things, or destroying property
- Physical attacks such as shoving, punching, or kicking
Employer Responsibilities
Employers need to carry out a risk assessment to determine if there is a risk of violence in the workplace. If the assessment shows that there is such a risk, the employer must put in place a workplace violence prevention program.
A workplace violence prevention program should be developed and put in place with participation from the joint health and safety committee or the worker health and safety representative. The program should include:
- A written policy to eliminate or reduce risk
- Regular risk assessments
- Prevention procedures
- Worker and supervisor training
- Procedures for reporting and investigating incidents
- Incident follow-up
- Program review
What You Should Do If You Encounter Threats or Acts of Violence
- Try to stay calm. Don’t confront, argue with, or fight with the violent person, as that could make the situation worse. Try to calm the person, and leave the area as soon as possible. If you think the other person is going to hurt you, try to get someone’s attention to help.
- Report violence to your supervisor as soon as possible.
- If you believe that the threat or act of violence has not been addressed properly, report the issue to management or WorkSafeBC.
Reference
Occupational Health and Safety Regulation Part 4, Sections 4.24–4.31
