I would like to actuate my fellow colleagues to totally ban workplace violence. Workplace violence should be opposed because violence leads to a number of damages and other negative consequences to the organization. Work violence reflects a negative image to both fellow staffs, management, and customers. Therefore, it should not be totally allowed.
How many of you think work violence can solve to address a rising issue? Will an individual feel good if injured in a workplace violence? Answering this two questions will make us understand workplace violence well. According to Sofield and Salmond (2003), workplace violence can be defined as any kind of physical assault, verbal abuse or threatening behavior within the work environment setting (Sofield and Salmond 2003). It involves any form of an act which threatens customers or workers’ safety, affects an individual life, wellbeing or health, and resulting property damage.
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"Workplace Violence".
Workplace violence occurs in many ways. These ways include fights that may arise due to misunderstandings, stalking, threats within the staffs or the work management team and the staffs, harassment from supervisors or other staffs. As Barling et al., (2001) supports, shootings, sexual assaults, intimidation and shouting or swearing that is anger generated are also workplace violence acts (Barling et al. 2001). There exist four workplace violence categories namely strangers where non-company staffs bring outside issues to the company and cause violence, coworkers which occurs mostly when fellow fail to understand each other or disagree with each other raising their personal feelings, customer workplace violence where a customer instead of following the right way of solving complaints decided to face the service provider and disrupts the duties of the worker and lastly personal relationships which are experienced by the organization workers.
Each individual is affected by workplace violence. Therefore, instead of being disturbed alone it is good to share your problems or concerns with your fellow worker or even your supervisor. Workplace violence within the workplace environment leads to firing of the involved workers, termination of the worker’s contract and even prosecution of the worker. The workplace violence rule should be strictly adhered to. In order to avoid job loss effects due to workplace violence, prevention n measures should be established. Of course, there is no workplace violence prevention national standards put but the general responsibility clause will be used to manage the prevention.
The following strategies to ensure workplace violence is prevented should be set. One of the strategies is stabilizing security measures. Measures to ensure strangers are not allowed to disrupt normal operations should be in place. Gillespie et al., (2010) supports that customers and clients should be requested to follow set procedures for solving customer claims (Gillespie et al. 2010). Other strategies are training workers well on both work relations and how to handle issues, providing programs which advocate employee assistance in the workplace where employees share disturbing issues with the management, fellow works or even supervisors. Visitor procedures should be imposed where a visitor’s details are recorded and the worker to be visited contacted on the awareness of the visitor and lastly pre-employment screening where all employees’ relationships are keenly studied to ensure a good relationship within the organization is maintained.
Also, procedures and policies should be set to ensure workplace violence is controlled totally. For instance, if any worker refuses to cooperate with the set procedures and policies, the individual should not be allowed to enter into the operations premises. Some items for instance weapons, ammunitions and firearms should be banned from being carried into the work premises. Trained personnel for security should be used to offer security, alarm signals should be working, off-limits areas should have signs to indicate so, badges to workers for easy identification, work should be effectively arranged, adequate lighting and marking of escape routes.
Peek-Asa et al., (2007) supports that aggressive behaviors should be identified and supervisors alerted. Avoid use of drugs and alcohol at workplaces, disciplinary actions that are unfair, personal conflicts, teamwork should be used, respect within workers, personal discipline, making workplace secure, and zero tolerance to harassing behaviors (Peek-Asa et al. 2007). Emotional disturbance and focus on progressive work measures.
- Barling, J., Rogers, A. G., & Kelloway, E. K. (2001). Behind closed doors: In-home workers’ experience of sexual harassment and workplace violence. Journal of occupational health psychology, 6(3), 255.
- Gillespie, G. L., Gates, D. M., Miller, M., & Howard, P. K. (2010). Workplace violence in healthcare settings: risk factors and protective strategies. Rehabilitation nursing, 35(5), 177-184.
- Peek-Asa, C., Casteel, C., Allareddy, V., Nocera, M., Goldmacher, S., OHagan, E., … & Harrison, R. (2007). Workplace violence prevention programs in hospital emergency departments. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 49(7), 756-763.
- Sofield, L., & Salmond, S. W. (2003). Workplace violence: A focus on verbal abuse and intent to leave the organization. Orthopaedic Nursing, 22(4), 274-283.
