With violence in the workplace showing no sign of decreasing, what can HR do to minimise any risk and promote a ‘zero tolerance’ policy within the organisation? Lucie Mitchell talks to some experts to find out.

Violence in the workplace is an ongoing concern and doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), estimates from the 2006/07 British Crime Survey indicated that there were approximately 397,000 threats of violence and 288,000 physical assaults by members of the public on British workers during the 12 months prior to the interviews.

In addition, a survey conducted earlier this year indicated that anger at work – or ‘work rage’ – is on the increase, with as many as seven in 10 workers reporting that verbal abuse and yelling is common in the workplace.

The HSE’s definition of work-related violence is: “Any incident in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances related to their work.”

Policies and procedures

Of course, there are certain professions where employees will be exposed to more risk, including health professionals, transport workers, police, prison officers and security guards. However, it is vital that all organisations have in place a number of policies, including bullying & harassment, health & safety, and dismissal & disciplinary procedures, so that you are equipped and prepared should an incident occur.

Violence in the workplace can destroy morale, motivation and performance, as well as recruitment and retention, not to mention increase absence and sickness levels amongst employees. So how can employers reduce the risk of violence in the workplace and give employees the protection they need?

“The first thing to think about is having strong communication policies in place – that is the opening gambit,” advises James Bradley, work-life services director at Employee Advisory Resource. “You then need to undertake risk assessment. Also, have very clear procedures for handling bullying, harassment and violence and have those very clearly communicated to employees.”

Bradley mentions that he is beginning to see many ‘dignity in the workplace’ policies coming through. “[This policy] doesn’t just go along with the standard bullying and harassment policies, it also approaches an individual’s space and it promotes awareness of other individual’s sensibilities. Often the perception of the individual is more important than the actual issue itself. So it brings a morality into it and an awareness of others.”

Kelly Taylor, employment specialist at law firm Langleys, stresses the importance of having the correct dismissal and disciplinary procedure in place. “It is important to make sure your dismissal and disciplinary policy deals with violence and, specifically, it categorises gross misconduct so that employers can deal with violence accordingly.”

She also recommends employers have a specific anti-harassment and bullying policy in place. “Generally, harassment will involve more than one act, so the policy must also catch a one-off incident of violence, under the definition of harassment, so that any incident of violence is dealt with properly and taken seriously.”

Obviously, each policy must be bespoke to your business as there is clearly going to be a greater risk in certain areas, she adds.

Training your line managers is also vital. You can go to any sort of length with this, says Bradley, from awareness right through to conflict resolution. “You could say to your managers, ‘we want you to be aware of the environment you are working in and the people you are likely to come into contact with’, and then if anything does happen, it can be passed up to HR to deal with. Or, you might train your managers to actually deal with the situation.

“There are the major risk groups out there, so if violence could happen on a regular basis, then these managers need to be trained up to deal with it. This kind of thing does take a lot of training and it is an ongoing training issue, so you have got to put quite a bit of money into it.”

It’s also worth thinking about training for your employees too. Steve Williams, head of equality at Acas, says that they have been looking at how to train staff to recognise situations themselves, to avoid potentially violent incidents. “Providing some sort of training, where people can be exposed to violence, is really important because the employees themselves need the confidence to be able to protect themselves, without putting themselves at risk.”

Whatever kind of training or policies you have in place, however, underpinning all this is that employers must make it very clear that not only will violence not be tolerated, it is also a criminal act, adds Williams.

Practical steps for HR

Of course, the first thing to do is carry out a risk assessment. “It sounds easy to do, but at the end of the day, it is very subjective indeed,” remarks Bradley. “Subjectivity is difficult when you are dealing with these things. But, with the more vulnerable employees, you have to ask how often is this happening, what can we do to avoid this from happening, etc. It is about weighing up what the risks are, and where they are likely to come from, i.e. from the general public or internally.”

Williams suggests that HR should have a contingency plan in place, which sets out what staff are expected to do in different situations. “It is also about having a proper discussion with the employees and, where necessary, the trade unions or their representatives, and having a policy that recognises when this may occur and what steps an organisation can take to minimise and prevent such activity. The worst thing an organisation can do is to ignore it – that just won’t work.”

In terms of internal procedures, Taylor recommends starting at the very beginning – with your recruitment process. “The first thing I would stress is to take up references – it may sound obvious but you would be amazed how many employers don’t take up references for employees they are taking on. We are aware that times are difficult, and there are financial pressures at the moment, so you need to be aware of what you are taking on when you employ somebody.”

Violence and the law

It is highly likely that an organisation will be held liable if violence occurs between employees. For instance, says Sikin Andela, partner and employment lawyer at Glovers Solicitors, a company could face a negligent claim from an employee, who is a victim of violence, for breach of duty of care by the employer, and damages for this breach.

“In addition, if the violence was due to an infringement of health and safety law, they could be held liable under this law; and in the unfortunate event of the violence resulting in the death of an employee, the company can be held liable under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 and face penalties including unlimited fines and publicity orders,” comments Andela. “Finally, there is the possible of liability with regard to the process taken should the employment contract of the violent employee be terminated.”

Taylor adds: “Employers have a duty to provide a safe place of work, so if that is breached because of violence in the workplace, then they will be subject to a breach of statutory duty. They could also be sued for personal injury; and then there is discrimination, if the employee is able to prove this – and of course, discrimination laws are in place from day one.”

Unfortunately, violence in the workplace is still acceptable and the culture has not gone, says Bradley. The main thing to remember, however, is that to ignore it and pretend it isn’t happening, is to do so at your peril.