Workplace violence, which can take place in or out of the workplace, also includes threatening behavior such as shaking one's fists, throwing things, swearing, verbal abuse and expressing an intent to inflict harm.
Any behavior that physically or verbally demeans, embarrasses, humiliates, annoys, alarms, hurts or abuses a person should be unacceptable in any workplace, CCOHS points out.
The most effective way to determine whether violence exists in your workplace and to address violence or preventing future incidents is to develop a comprehensive workplace violence prevention program, the agency says.
CCOHS recently released three e-courses designed to increase awareness, suggest preventive measures and provide information to help develop a workplace violence prevention program.
The e-courses are:
- "Violence in the Workplace: Awareness" This 15-minute course, offered free of charge, helps promote awareness of this important issue and serves as an introduction to the other CCOHS workplace violence e-courses.
- "Recognize the Risk and Take Action" Designed for frontline supervisors and workers, the course describes what workplace violence is, the consequences of workplace violence and preventive measures that can be taken. It takes approximately 1 hour to complete the course.
- "Establish a Prevention Program" The course introduces managers, supervisors and employees to the key components of an effective workplace violence prevention program. It provides the knowledge and tools they need to eliminate or minimize the potential for workplace violence by developing a prevention program for their organization. The course takes approximately 90 minutes to complete.
CCOHS e-learning courses, which are developed by CCOHS subject specialists, provide users with credible, accurate and current information that is available in English and French. The agency adds that the content is reviewed externally by representatives from government, business and labor to ensure that the information is unbiased.
For details on CCOHS workplace violence e-courses and other training and education resources, visit http://www.ccohs.ca/education.