Management of Employee Wellness & Occupational Safety

MANAGEMENT OF EMPLOYEE WELLNESS & OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY

(POSITION PAPER)

NAME: HASANI LYNGO

ID#: 1307529

TEACHER: BRIGITT HOOSANG

FACULTY: SOBA

WORK PLACE VIOLENCE IS A REAL PROBLEM THAT CAN BE PREVENTED

        Work place violence is any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site. It ranges from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and even homicide. It can affect and involve employees, clients, customers and visitors. Work place violence has become a growing dilemma over the years due to increased globalization across nations. According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), “each year more than 1,600 people are murdered at work; more than 2,000,000 people are assaulted on the job each year and more than 6,000,000 are threatened.” These are just cases that are reported and been accounted for.  It brings a high cost to employers in terms of public image, increased absenteeism, lost productivity, high employee turnover, and increased insurance/compensation costs. Work place violence can be prevented by creating specialized departments in organizations to identify and address potential problematic situations, instituting a zero-tolerance policy towards work place violence and also by employing proper security detail and emergency procedures.

        Of course one might say that policies can be disregarded or overlooked, issue identification may be rigid and that issues maybe too personal for particular supervisors. Sometimes the policies of an organization are disregarded because of improper enforcement. Policies can become monotonous and inessential to employees, clients and other personnel, thus bringing forth discontinuation of adherence. Issues sometimes may not be identified until physical action is taken by the person/s committing the unlawful act. Sometimes issues can be of personal matter, frequently unpredictable and infrequent. Hence it can be difficult for management to identify and plan for.

        The likelihood of these occurring is small or not at all if the measures to be taken are adopted with efficient and effective application. Work place violence can be prevented or curbed to an acceptable but yet unwanted level. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) “seventy-five percent of the organization that enforced stringent measures against work place violence from 2011-2013 faced a decreased in their total number of fatalities. This goes to show that work related violence is subjected to change due to the specifications of the different prevention measures been adapted.