NVC Awareness Blog

According to a study recently produced by Cardiff and Plymouth Universities violence in the workplace is more common than originally thought.

Almost a million British workers have suffered physical violence in the past two years with millions more experiencing intimidation, humiliation and rudeness.

The study involved 4000 face to face interviews with a diverse representation of the British workforce. The statistics are alarming – one in twenty had suffered from violence, with 3.8% injured during violent altercations. 13% reported that assault was a DAILY occurrence. Most of the violence was directed to staff from customers, clients and members of the public

The study identified that workers in the education, social work, public administration and defence sector were most at risk, however managers and professionals were also experiencing violence.

While managers and supervisors were blamed for two thirds of unreasonable behavior the research found that staff with managerial responsibilities were also experiencing workplace violence and unreasonable treatment.

Shockingly the study also highlighted that many managers believe staff training and welfare is low on their list of priorities and some even felt that ill treatment of staff was acceptable.

The study shows that violence, ill treatment and unreasonable behavior is common in Britain’s workplace. Employment policies, training and guidance is failing. Poor standards of good treatment and civility towards workers must be an essential part of the manager’s role. Employers must also be taught to recognize that managers will be under pressure and therefore give them time and space to ensure fairness is an integral part of the workplace.

There is no excuse for violence and bullying in the workplace. As well as causing physical harm it can traumatize staff and leave them unable to work. As well as the human suffering it can also cause financial suffering to a business. It must be high on the list of priorities within any organization to ensure staff are safe at work. Employers must make sure workers are able to report any threats but they must also provide staff training on how to confront violence in a confident and successful manner.

The full study can be found at [http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/socsi/resources/insight11.pdf" title="]. Training with regards to conflict management can be provided by NVC Awareness Ltd. Please refer to our website www.nvcawareness.co.uk for further details.