Bilingual posters from CCOHS spotlight workplace violence, bullying
Violence is a growing concern in the workplace, and while many may think of violence as only physical assault, it is a much broader problem, according to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS).
To help people recognize and report the signs, CCOHS has developed two new posters depicting various types of behaviours that are considered workplace violence.
One poster focuses on violence, the other on bullying.
“Workplace violence is any act in which a person is abused, threatened, intimidated or assaulted in his or her employment,” says Jessie Callaghan, senior technical specialist at CCOHS, and expert in the areas of workplace violence and bullying. “It’s not limited to incidents that occur within a traditional workplace. Work-related violence can occur at off-site business functions, at work social events, in clients' homes or away from work but resulting from work, such as a threatening telephone call to your home from a client.”
Workplace bullying is a form of workplace violence that involves repeated incidents or a pattern of behaviour that intimidates, offends, degrades or humiliates a person or group, or is an assertion of power through aggression. Each of these acts is considered a serious workplace problem and can cause undue stress, anxiety and low morale, ultimately affecting the individual, the employer and productivity as a whole for the organization.
The bullying poster (scroll down for details)
The poster on bullying, titled “Bullying is not part of the job” features a list of items that can be considered bullying, including:
•unjust criticism
•unwarranted (or undeserved) punishment
•belittling someone’s opinion
•intimidation
•rumours, gossip and innuendo
•spying
•stalking
•and more.
The violence poster (scroll down for details)
The poster on violence features a dramatic stop sign emblazoned with signs of workplace violence including:
•arguments
•shouting
•shaking fists
•verbal abuse
•throwing objects
•and more.
The posters can be downloaded, for free, as a PDF at http://ccohs.ca/products/posters. Employers can also purchase copies of the poster for $3 each. (Minimum order of five posters, with a discount on orders of 50 or more posters.) The posters are available in English and French.
