Violence

Violence is a threat or incident of harm. Violence can also be psychological acts of harm. In a workplace, it is the most extreme form of unacceptable behaviour. It covers a broad range of behaviours that can create a risk to the health and safety of workers.

It includes:

• verbal assaults or threats
• throwing objects
• pushing, shoving, tripping, grabbing
• striking, kicking, scratching, biting, spitting or any other physical contact
• attacking with knives, guns, clubs or any other type of weapon.

Work-related violence can come from a range of sources, including:

• organisational eg a colleague
• client-related
• opportunistic.

The violence can be perpetrated by:

• clients
• customers
• patients
• people in custody
• members of the public.

Some workers are more likely to encounter violence in their jobs than others. This includes emergency services, health care workers, police, teachers and retail staff.

Preventing work-related violence

A workplace violence prevention program must be part of your overall health and safety program. It should be developed and implemented in co-operation with workers or their health and safety representatives. The program needs to be developed after you have done a specific risk assessment for violence in your work environment.

A violence prevention program needs to include the following components:

• a written policy to eliminate or minimise risk
• regular risk assessments
• prevention procedures
• worker and supervisor training
• procedures for reporting and investigating incidents
• incident follow-up
• program review.

• designing service delivery solutions if required.

Practical solutions to managing work-related violence can be found in our Preventing and responding to work-related violence guide.

Cash-in-transit

Safe Work Australia has information to help you manage the risks of transporting cash. Their specific Cash-in-transit information includes:

• the General guide for managing cash-in-transit security risks, which provides information on how to manage cash-in-transit security risks involving armoured or non-armoured vehicle operations
• the Cash-in-transit information sheet, which provides advice for small businesses about cash-in-transit procedures
• the Guide for handling and transporting cash is directed at businesses transporting cash 'in-house', for example where a sole worker transports cash from the workplace to a bank.

Responding to violence at work

Withdrawing from a violent situation is always the best course of action. Self-defence can be used when a person is under attack and believes it is life threatening but, the response must only be of sufficient force to enable the victim to escape further harm.

Work-related violence can fall within the scope of various state and federal laws. Physical assault, robbery, sexual assault and threats to harm someone should always be referred to NSW Police.

Training your workers

Training for workers on violence demonstrates an employer’s commitment to managing this risk.

To assist workers to understand, avoid and manage incidents of work-related violence, we have prepared an overview of topics for any work-related violence staff training program.

You can adapt these to the specific demands of your workplace.