Musculo Skeletal Disorders | Stress | Occupational Violence and bullying | Health and Safety representatives

Occupational Violence and Bullying

Occupational Violence and Bullying
VAADA is working in conjunction with Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS), Department of Human Services (DHS) and WorkSafe Victoria to increase awareness of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) issues in the social and community service sector – and more specifically for VAADA, the AOD sector.
Workplace bullying and violence is an issue for community sector services across the board and the AOD sector is no exception. Workplace violence can be inflicted by colleagues, clients, intruders or third parties known to services.

Workplace Bullying
“Workplace bullying is repeated, unreasonable behaviour directed toward an employee, or group of employees, that creates a risk to health and safety.”
 (WorkSafe, 2008)
The following types of behaviour, where repeated or as part of a pattern of behaviour, could be considered bullying:
 • verbal abuse
 • excluding or isolating employees
 • psychological harassment
 • intimidation
 • assigning meaningless tasks unrelated to the job
 • giving employees impossible assignments
 • deliberately changing work rosters to inconvenience particular employees
 • deliberately withholding information that is vital for effective work performance
This list is not exhaustive. Other types of behaviour may also constitute bullying.
Though it is difficult to pin point specific conditions or situations within the AOD sector that can lead to bullying; AODs share many similarities with other community services. Factors such as staff shortages, increasing productivity demands, heavy workloads and unclear work roles can all contribute to an increased risk of bullying.
Preventing bullying should involve a number of measures that includes consultation to create awareness of the issues, developing a policy in conjunction with staff, training staff and managers in policies and procedures, identifying risks, controlling risks as well as encouraging staff to report incidents.

Occupational Violence
“Occupational violence is defined as any incident where an employee is physically attacked or threatened in the workplace.”
 (WorkSafe, 2008)
The Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 says that employers must provide their workers with a safe and healthy working environment. This includes uncontrolled environments such as in-home detox and outreach facilities.
Due to the environments they work in, those who work in AOD sector face specific challenges that can place them at an increased risk of experiencing occupational violence.
Some of the circumstances which place AOD workers at risk include:
• Extensive waiting times – where staff are placed in situations where they have to tell clients, who are stressed or in crisis, that counsellors or program places aren’t available;
• Working with clients who are intoxicated;
• Outreach – visiting clients at home or street based outreach; and
• Inadequate funding of capital works which can lead to poorly designed reception areas that isolate staff or force clients to wait in crowded rooms for extended periods.
It is important that all workplaces be assessed for potential hazards in the area of occupational violence. It is equally important that these hazards be removed or the risk of harm be controlled through changes to work practices and/or the provision of appropriate personal protection equipment.
Both employers and employees have obligations under the OHS Act and efforts to control the risks associated with bullying and workplace violence should involve everyone in the workplace. For more information on prevention measures, go to WorkSafe Victoria’s:
Prevention of Bullying and Violence at Work (Guidance Note)

Working Safely in Community Services