How to Prevent and Minimize Violence at the Workplace

How many times do we hear news regarding violence, sexual harassment, discrimination at workplace? Many times it happens and most often it result to serious acts like killings and black propaganda. In the past recent news, a student from Yale University was murdered and the initial investigation said that it is classified as workplace violence. But this is not isolated case, in the recent past, the rise in the cases of killings, harassment, and intimidation has risen and became a concern for everybody.

Almost one third of our time everyday, we spend it working, (eight hours regular). Other people might render longer hours specially if they really need the money. Imagine that in the course of a lifetime, we spend almost one third of our life in the workplace. We are working during times which we are energetic mostly during the day (except for some who work in second shift or third shift). Imagine the time we spent at work, so we should be at peace when we are working and make it a nice environment for our own safety.

Imagine the stress people experience when there is violence at workplace. Good working relationship in workplace is a must because it entails productivity and lower cost to the management. Because of some stress related consequences of disagreement or disunity among workers, the output is affected.

ADDITIONAL TIPS ON PREVENTING VIOLENCE AT YOUR WORK

1. Mostly violence can be verbal,(gossips) assault , killing or harassment. The reasons for such violence are varied ranging from jealousy, personal reasons, unmet demands, etc.
2. Who are the perpetrators of such violence, could be the higher management, or customers disgruntled by the service or your co-workers.
3. In these situations, it is best to have regular meetings among the staff and management (consultation purposes also). if there are small problems arising or they have demands that wanted to be met. The management should not put aside any complaints by an employee. They should try to solve the problem at hand to avoid frustrations among the workers.
4. The management should also be consistent in implementing rules. No one is excused and rules should be maintained at all times.
5. Any misconduct or unusual behavior by a co-worker should be reported to the proper management.
6. The management should be sensitive to the needs of workers. It should give some leeway and consideration but at the same time don’t compromise the objective of the company.