MBA 670 Strategic Decision Making: Physical Workplace Safety

The aim of this assignment is to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate a thorough understanding and appreciation of physical workplace health and safety hazards and the potential impact legislation and company practices have on eliminating or controlling such hazards.   

Task:

Review and consider the recent Ontario court decision provided below which resulted from workplace violence and harassment.  Outline and discuss the requirements and provisions an employer and employee must take in Nova Scotia to ensure that workplace violence and workplace harassment are not tolerated. 

Answer:

Physical workplace health and safety hazards

Workplace violence for a long time has not been taken seriously as a safety and health issue. In many cases, those being subjected to violence have do not seek redress or are not taken into consideration. As such, policies set to prevent workplace violence do not seem to work. Employers and managers make the situation worse by bulling the employees. On the other hand, disciplinary committees do not punish the perpetrators of workplace violence because they are the “untouchables’.  Unfortunately, workplace violence contributes to a lot of deaths being recorded among employees while at work, (Ross, 2017, 15).

The article written by Melanie Warner and Sarah Boyle puts workplace violence into perspective after their summative article “The price of Workplace Bullying”.  In this scenario, the Ontario Court of Appeal shed light on the issue of workplace bullying by heavily fining Jason Pinnock after he continuously bullied and harassed Meredith Boucher. Initially, Boucher was awarded damages amounting to $1, 450,000. It is right to state that this remedy came in a little bit too late especially after Boucher made failed attempts of reporting Pinnock to Wal- Mart Management, (Pranglnell et al., 2018, 87). As such, Pinnock continuously abused her verbally and physically to the extent that she suffers from insomnia, loss of appetite and weight loss. To top it all, she resigned.

From this scenario, it is evident that employees face challenges while performing their duties. The aspect of workplace violence is regulated by Violence in the Workplace Regulations enshrined in section 82 of the Occupation and Health Safety Act 1996. In this regulation-Citation 3, all parties involved in the workplace should be aware that violence is an occupational health and safety hazard.

Duties of employers in the prevention of workplace violence

For this to be achieved, this regulation, under Citation 5, mandates employers to carry out violence risk assessments, (Powers, 2017, 22). This aids in making a determination whether the risks of violence may be encountered at work by all parties, (Ricciardelli, 2018, 24). As such, a written report must be made about it. While carrying out the assessment, employers must take into consideration past acts of violence, common violence in similar work environments, circumstances surrounding the work being done, interactions that happen when work is being done and layout as well as the physical location of the entire workplace. In addition, employers have to consult with members of any committees formed during the assessment as well as furnishing them with copies of the written reports of the assessments made. Lastly, similar consultation must be made with a representative selected from the workplace, (Milloy, 2017, 1960).

Prevention plans must also exist in any workplace. This relates especially to prevention plans for workplace violence. It is the employer’s duty formulate and implement prevention plans as per Citation 7. As such, a code of practice has to be published too. Employers thus have the duty too to educate their employees about the code of practice as stipulated under section 10 and section 11. This can be done through training where employees are notified about their responsibilities and rights, measures to identify, eliminate or report the risks and also methods of documenting the incidences, (Clause 11, Violence in the Workplace Regulations)

Duties of Employees in the Prevention of workplace violence

Employees are presented by respect and fear, especially towards employers. Many employees face violence and harassment from their employers or managers, case in point being Boucher’s scenario. In such situations, employees should report the perpetrators to their supervisors or to legal authorities, (Geoffrion et al., 2017, 370). This also applies to employees facing harassment and violent behaviours from other employees. In most cases, bullying and sexual harassment are mainly reported. In such situations, supervisors are the first leaders to receive such reports, therefore acting on them. Role ambiguity also comes in handy when employees become knowledgeable about their responsibilities and how accountable they should be.

In a nutshell, leaders should be at the forefront of highlighting the issue of workplace violence. Existing policies have to be used so that violence, bullying and harassment are avoided in the workplace. Accountability should hence be seen to take place. Honourable Patty Hajdu –Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour has been very vocal about workplace violence. In his ministerial message, he stated that nobody should be subjected to sexual violence or harassment of any form in a work environment no matter whether the perpetrator is a manager, employer or work colleague. Therefore. Employers and employees have the duty of averting workplace violence.

References

Geoffrion, S., Goncalves, J., Boyer, R., Marchand, A., & Guay, S. (2017). The effects of trivialization of workplace violence on its victims: profession and sex differences in a cross-sectional study among healthcare and law enforcement workers. Annals of work exposures and health, 61(3), 369-382.

Milloy, J. (2017). Blood, Sweat, and Fear: Violence at Work in the North American Auto Industry, 1960–80.

Powers, H. (2017). BULLIES AMONG US: Dealing with Workplace Violence in Health Care. Canadian Journal of Medical Laboratory Science, 79(4), 21-24.

Prangnell, A., Shannon, K., Nosova, E., DeBeck, K., Milloy, M. J., Kerr, T., & Hayashi, K. (2018). Workplace violence among female sex workers who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada: does client-targeted police increase safety?. Journal of public health policy, 39(1), 86-99.

Ricciardelli, R., Power, N., & Medeiros, D. S. (2018). Correctional Officers in Canada: Interpreting Workplace Violence. Criminal Justice Review, 24

Ross, J. (2017). Violence in Canada: sociopolitical perspectives. Routledge, 12 (15)

Violence in the Workplace Regulations made under Section 82 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act S.N.S. 1996, c. 7 O.I.C. 2007-200 (April 4, 2007, effective April 1, 2008*), N.S. Reg. 209/2007