Essay Sample on Workplace Violence and Harassment Prevention Program

Introduction

The workplace is one area that has managed to hit the headlines from time to time about the various occurrences that take place in this setting.

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Given that most adults are in the working class and are in frequent contact with fellow workers, the workplace becomes an integral area of our human social interaction. As a result, different happenings may come up in the working process. Among the most widespread occurrence at the place of work is violence (Copeland & Henry, 2017). Violence at the workplace may take various forms including; physical abuse, verbal violence, gender-based violence among other forms of violence that may be exhibited in this setting. As a result, it is necessary to ensure that there are measures put in place that will ensure that every employee is presented with a safe and sound working environment that is free of any form of violence.

Program Implementation

Measures and procedures to control the risks identified

Physical violence mitigation - to help curb the issue of physical abuse, anger management lessons could get provided for violent or aggressive individuals at the workplace. As studies have shown, most physically violent individuals are primarily motivated by anger management issues. By seeing to it that such employees are equipped with the necessary skills, physical violence shall have been mitigated at the workplace (Herlihy, 2017).

Verbal violence - verbal violence is different from physical abuse but has a similarly distressing effect. Verbal violence at the work setting could include insulting comments that have been observed to have a significant impact on the victimized employees' performance at work. To curb this vice, communication skills enhancement programs could be introduced at the workplace.

Gender-based violence - this form of abuse is practiced on either gender unlike the conventional thought that gender is more oriented towards female employees (Wang et al., 2018). To curb gender-based violence, it would be necessary to implement a no-gender policy at the workplace whereby chores and tasks get allocated without bias.

Procedures for Summoning Immediate Assistance When Workplace Violence Occurs or Is Likely to Occur

Also, a prevention program would be necessary to ensure that any possible violence occurrence is curbed before it happens. This could be achieved via the application of amicable conflict resolution approaches.

Measures and Procedures for Workers to Report Incidents of Workplace Violence to the Employer or Supervisor

Development of an anti-violence department at the workplace would be the initial measure to address the violence issue. By ensuring that there is a timely response for any form of abuse at the workplace, it will be possible to mitigate the prevalence of violence at the work setting (Phillips, 2016). Similarly, the workers would utilize the anti-violence department to report the occurrence of any form of abuse at work.

Investigating and Dealing With Incidents or Complaints of Workplace Violence

It is necessary to bear in mind that there is a likelihood of the reporting of false instances of work-related violence by malicious workers. As a result, it would be necessary to have investigations carried out to ascertain the occurrence of the violent act (Nielsen Glaso & Einarsen, 2017).

On the event that it is established that the act happened, the next step could be undertaken in the pursuit of justice and fairness for the afflicted individual and vice versa.

Prescribed Elements

Upon the ascertaining of the occurrence of the violent act or behavior, there should be the implementation of the prescribed measures for the offenders as well as the victims. For the offenders, sacking from the job could be considered to ensure that this kind of behavior is dealt with accordingly.

For the affected individuals, guidance and counseling services could be offered to enable them to deal with the pressure and trauma that they have been subjected under.

References

Copeland, D., & Henry, M. (2017). Workplace violence and perceptions of safety among emergency department staff members: Experiences, expectations, tolerance, reporting, and recommendations. Journal of trauma nursing, 24(2), 65-77.

Herlihy, P. A. (2017). Sexual Violence in the Workplace: It Happens Here.

Nielsen, M. B., Glaso, L., & Einarsen, S. (2017). Exposure to workplace harassment and the Five-Factor Model of personality: A meta-analysis. Personality and individual differences, 104, 195-206.

Phillips, J. P. (2016). Workplace violence against health care workers in the United States. New England journal of medicine, 374(17), 1661-1669.

Wang, Q., Bowling, N. A., Tian, Q. T., Alarcon, G. M., & Kwan, H. K. (2018). Workplace harassment intensity and revenge: Mediation and moderation effects. Journal of Business Ethics, 151(1), 213-234.