Essay about Violence in the Workplace: A Growing Problem

Recently, a number of researchers have included sexual harassment behaviours in their definitions of workplace violence and aggression.

Most of them are unreported and silenced. This scenario has to be changed so that safe work environment can be created within practice setting. Professional organization and education system have to prepare nurses for the prevention of violence. Health care organization also has a vital role for preventing and managing violence. In addition, nurses themselves have much to do. They have to have adequate professional experience, knowledge and competence. It is best to have good cooperation and coordination among health care team. They should participate in violence prevention policy and education and training in order to be able to appropriately respond to workplace violence. Nurses also should speak out against violent behavior in the workplace. More importantly, nurses have to behave in a non-violent and respectful manner towards the clients, families, and health care

The expression of violence takes many forms, ranging from physical assault and verbal abuse to intimidation and low level threatening behavior. The term ‘violence at work’ applies to ‘any incident in which employees and others are abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances arising out of, or during work undertaken. This also includes employers, self-employed people and any other person who may be affected by a violent incident in the workplace. A violent incident is usually "sparked" by something that causes the employee in question to erupt. This is especially true if the individual is already feeling vulnerable or has low self-esteem. Behaviors of concern can be the beginning to greater levels of violence. Workplace violence is related

Workplace Violence: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health defines workplace violence as ”violent acts, including physical assaults and threats of assaults, directed toward persons at work or on duty”. It can be anything from offensive or threatening language to homicide. It includes domestic violence, sexual violence-including sexual harassment or sexual assault, dating violence and stalking. U.S. Federal Government has categorized workplace violence into four types;

Work place violence is the most complex and dangerous occupational hazard facing nurses (Jacobson, February2007). I have witness several of the staff being assaulted by a patient which have led to permanent injury to the staff. It is very frustrating to seeing dedicated staff being assaulted. This also leads to shortage on the units.

There are two types of workplace violence, internal and external. Internal violence is violence from someone within the company like, fights and situations between employees. External is when there is a violent interaction between employees and someone from outside of the company like, robberies or employees getting into it with customers. According to the U.S. Department of labor every year, about two million people all over the country become victims of some kind of non-fatal violent situation at work. This much violence leads to even greater and more violent situations. There are approximately 1000 workplace homicides committed every year. As an IO Psychologist it is very important to be able to recognize, control, and prevent this type of violence.

Workplace Violence Workplace violence can be defined as any action that can threaten the safety of an employee, impact the employee's psychological or physical well being, or cause damage to a company's property. Workplace violence is not often talked about, but it does kill people. In the last decade it has become one of the leading causes of deaths in the workplace. The University of Iowa Prevention Center has broken down workplace violence into four categories.

I really enjoyed reading your post. Security in the workplace is a very important topic. Any organization, no matter what kind, can experience workplace violence. Workplace violence often includes behaviors such as physical assault, threats, harassment, intimidation, and bullying (Mathis, Jackson, Valentine & Meglich, 2017, p. 558).

In the early 1980s aggression and violence in the workplace have been a source of a lot of public discussion. (Piquero pg.383) The issues have risen again recently and have mostly been present in management and business fields. Workplace aggression often includes “behavior by an individual or individuals within or outside organizations that is intended to physically or psychologically harms a worker or workers and occurs in a work related”. (Schat& Kelloway Pg. 191) A national survey Conducted by the National Centers for Victims of Crime shows several statistics regarding workplace homicide by type show that is the year of (see fig. 1), violent crimes against victims working or an duty( see fig. 2) and nonfatal workplace violence

The issue of work place violence is becoming more prominent every day. The challenge that managers are facing is how to deal with it before and after the event. The management team must put things in place that allow them to reduce or prevent the possibility of any kind of violent event. These event cans stream from sexual harassment to conflict or even violence. The importance of mangers, at all levels, play in preventing work place violence is failing as more of these types of events are happening. The mass shooting in the workplace have almost become a normal part of life. The shootings are taking place in government facilities and private businesses all over the country. The managers in all these facilities help manage the prevention and, more importantly, the recovery after the events happen.

Unfortunately workplace violence is something that seems like will always happen. When an employee goes to work they want to feel safe and protected because they are usually there just as much as if not more than they are at home. From experience, once you no longer feel safe in your workplace you will no longer want to work there. Two years ago I worked at a bank in Jackson, Tennessee. My co-worker, who was the most sweet and caring woman I had ever met was killed at work due to a violent ex-boyfriend coming to the bank and shooting her. I was witness to this and it was the scariest thing I have ever been a part of. I no longer felt they could protect me and knew I could not find it in myself to return.

According to The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health workplace violence is described as any physical assault, threatening behavior or verbal abuse that takes place in the workplace. Violence includes all behaviors ranging in aggressiveness from verbal harassment to murder. Currently there is no law that requires protection for violence which occurs in the workplace. However some states throughout the country has reached out to legislation an established prevention programs. As of today, in 30 states (Florida not being one of them) if found guilty of workplace violence, employees and patients can be charged with a felony and face increased penalties.

Workplace Violence statics across the United States of America have been on a steady rise each year since the early 1990’s. Reports have consistently shown in recent years that than an average of 500 homicides and 1.5 million assaults occur each year in America, in the workplace. With those types of statics on the rise in America it’s clear that a Workplace Violence Program is essential to the health, welfare, safety, and security of our employees in the workplace. When enacting a Workplace Violence Program it is the goal of the company to help employees become more proactive in the efforts of identifying possible violent situations, as well as minimize the risk of the employees becoming injured or even killed in the workplace. It’s of the utmost importance that we gain the employees commitment to the Workplace Violence Program. In order to gain our employees full commitment to our Workplace Violence Program we must first ensure that a training regiment is developed to help enable the employees to become proactive. This case study will reflect the efforts made in developing a Workplace Violence Program in a corporate setting, from a security point of view and stand point. The objectives of our Workplace Violence Program is to recognize the signs of a potential problem, Understand that Workplace Violence is not random, recognize that Workplace aggression is predictable, comprehend that Workplace Violence is preventable, and understand preventative action to minimize

Workplace violence is not just when someone walks in and start shooting everyone. Although this kind of violence does happen, it is rare. The probability of you getting killed on your way to your job is greater than while on the job. Violence in the workplace does happen, and since one can’t predict when someone is going to go off the deep end and start killing their co-workers, this type of violence is hard to prevent. This type of violence is not the only kind of violence one might

Workplace violence is a serious and growing issue in society. Employers need to develop intervention strategies to decrease reduce violence in the workplace. Also, employers and employees need to be aware of the signs when people exhibit behaviors that can lead to workplace violence. As a society, the issue needs to be acknowledged of the reality and work together for creating a solution. Lastly, employers and employees must not live in fear of addressing concerns if they see the potential for workplace violence or report when they witness or experience workplace violence.