ASK THE EXPERTS

Workplace Solutions frequently receives questions from visitors to the web site concerning problems on the job. We have referred issues of general interest to our panel of experts. Representative questions (edited for space reasons) and the answers given by the experts are posted here so that others can benefit from the advice. Send us your questions, using the form on the Request for Information tab.

To: Workplace Solutions

Is it a safe workplace when an employee of the company blows his cool and begins to rant and rave about issues that happened years ago? The last time he made a threat to get his gun and return to shoot someone, then later denied saying it. How dangerous is this person?

—Union Grievance Chair

From the Expert:

Representatives of the union and employer need to discuss this situation in more detail. Although the person is upset about an incident that happened years ago, something in the present probably has triggered this latest outburst. Does this person have an unresolved grievance or other issue that he feels is not being addressed by the union and/or management?

Try to get more information from co-workers about the kinds of threats this person has made. Is there some specific information behind the threat? What happened that led this person to threaten to bring a gun into the workplace? Is there stuff going on in this person's life away from the workplace that could be behind these threats?

The union and management should jointly agree to meet with the employee. If he is potentially dangerous, management has a responsibility to deal with it now, not later. Since the situation could be considered a threat to everyone's safety and health, you might refer the matter to the joint safety and health committee at your workplace or the Employee Assistance Program. The worse thing you can do is ignore this problem and just hope it goes away.

David G. Alexander
Senior Lecturer
The Meany Center
Silver Spring, MD

To: Workplace Solutions

After working at a company for almost four years, my co-workers started bullying me. I don't know the reason. When I approached one of them, an answer wasn't given. Half a year ago another lady was bullied and had to leave her employment; the management of the company couldn't do anything. It is hopeless to talk to the managers: no one cares. Please help with your advice.

—Accounts Officer

From the Expert:

You've described a very serious problem that confronts many of today's workers. Workplace bullying is the repeated, deliberate mistreatment of an employee by supervisors or co-workers, causing severe emotional harm to the individual and undermining his or her ability to do the job. Though workplace bullying sometimes takes the form of direct, hostile verbal mistreatment of the targeted employee, it often is more insidious and passive-aggressive in nature.

Unfortunately, if complaints to management about bullying are ignored or not addressed effectively, one's options are limited. A tried and true response to bullying is to stand up to the bullies; sometimes they will back down. Frequently, however, bullied employees are left with the choice of staying in a job, enduring the abusive treatment, or leaving. Legal options are possible as well, though they usually should be considered only in consultation with a qualified attorney. (In some cases, the threat of legal action may trigger a more effective response from management.) For some individuals, personal counseling can be helpful in dealing with the trauma inflicted by workplace bullying and in sorting through potential options.

I note that your address is Australian, so it is worth sharing information specific to your country. The Beyond Bullying Association considers bullying in many contexts, including the workplace. BBA is at: http://cwpp.slq.qld.gov.au/BBA/.    You will find helpful reading suggestions and links there. Furthermore, the Queensland Division of Workplace Health & Safety has published a short booklet, Workplace Bullying, Worker's Guide. Finally, on the legal front, in a 1998 decision titled Arnold vs. Midwest Radio Limited, the Queensland Supreme Court held that an employer could be liable for emotional harm suffered by an employee who was subjected to repeated verbal abuse by her supervisor.

David Yamada
Professor of Law and Director,
Project on Workplace Bullying and Discrimination
Suffolk University Law School
Boston, MA

To: Workplace Solutions

How can you protect yourself against violence in the emergency room and deal with hostile patients? A nurse and a doctor have been assaulted by patients in the emergency room in my regional medical center within the last six months.

—Registered Nurse

From the Expert:

Hospital emergency departments are considered high risk sites for assault by patients and visitors on staff. Additionally, numerous studies have documented that a significant number of weapons have been brought into the emergency room, especially in urban centers.

A good start would be to create a multi?disciplinary committee that includes direct care staff, supervisors, managers, union representatives (if unionized), staff development, safety and security, environmental, and human resources personnel. This committee should conduct a threat assessment by looking at injury data, surveying staff and patients, conducting focus groups, reviewing emergency room policies and procedures, and inspecting the physical environment.

Improvements in the following might be considered:

• Security and the environment: access control, metal detectors, alarm systems, lighting, and use of security personnel;
• Policies and procedures: a written violence prevention program, patient assessment, admissions (wait times), staffing, training, visitation, incident management and prevention, trauma response, and coordination with police;
• Personal and clinical: evaluation of patients for aggressive behavior, inventory of staff skills in non?verbal, verbal, and physical intervention techniques, communication between shifts, and sharing of information between clinicians and direct care staff.

A recommended reference is:

Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Healthcare and Social Service Workers, US Department of Labor, OSHA, Publication 3148, 1996
http://www.osha?slc.gov/SLTC/workplaceviolence/guideline.html or
pdf version: http://www.osha?slc.gov/Publications/Osha3148.pdf

Jonathan Rosen, MS CIH
Director, Occupational Safety & Health Department
New York State Public Employees Federation, AFL-CIO
Latham, NY