Violence at Work

Dialogue, discussions and disagreements form a regular part of the interactions in many work environments. As a result, most workers and managers are confronted with personal, work-related and client/customer challenges on a daily basis, including the anxieties and frustration of co-workers, personality clashes, organisational and production difficulties, diminished resources, increasing production/output demands, aggressive intruders from outside the business, and problematic relations with clients and members of the public. Despite this, dialogue usually prevails over confrontation, and most people manage to organize efficient and productive activities within the workplace. There are clashes, however, where dialogue fails to develop in a positive way, relationships between workers, managers, clients or the public deteriorate, and the objectives of working efficiently and achieving productive results are negatively affected. Thus violence may emerge in work environments and turn a previously benign environment into a hostile and hazardous setting. Contemporary community awareness about the issue of violence at work has been magnified by several recent tragic workplace killings perpetrated by disturbed individuals and fanatical groups armed with powerful weapons. For example, since the first edition of this book appeared in 1998, terrorist attacks on a number of workplaces, public transport facilities, and hotel and residential compounds have resulted in significant loss of life around the world. While media attention has generally concentrated on the victims of these attacks - and sometimes the risks faced by criminal justice system workers tracking the perpetrators - it is frequently forgotten that many victims were either at work or travelling to or from their jobs. Similarly, media attention often focuses on single events with multiple victims, such as when an armed individual attacks a group of co-workers, perhaps after unresolved interpersonal or employment disagreements.