Bullying, Aggression and Violence

Workplace bullying can be defined as repeated unreasonable or inappropriate behaviour directed towards a worker, or a group of workers, that creates a risk to health and safety.

A workplace situation can be identified as bullying if a worker or workers are:

• Harmed
• Intimidated
• Threatened
• Victimised
• Undermined
• Offended
• Degraded
• Humiliated

whether alone or in front of co-workers, visitors or customers.

While some workplace bullying may involve verbal abuse and physical violence, bullying can also be subtle intimidation with inappropriate comments about personal appearance, constant criticisms, isolation of workers from others and unrealistic, embarrassing or degrading work demands. Workplace bullying can also be carried out via letters, email and telephone text messages.

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Health effects

The reactions of individual workers will vary. It is possible that workers who are bullied will experience some of the following health effects:

• Stress, anxiety or sleep disturbance
• Ill health or fatigue
• Panic attacks or impaired ability to make decisions
• Incapacity to work, concentration problems, loss of self-confidence and self-esteem or reduced output and performance
• Depression or a sense of isolation
• Physical injury
• Reduced quality of home and family life
• Hypersensitivity
• Post traumatic stress syndrome
• In extreme cases, risk of suicide.

Other effects

Other effects of bullying can be considerable direct and indirect cost for organisations. There may be a high turnover or low morale in areas where bullying occurs.

In addition to the direct cost of recruiting and training new staff or remediation to resolve the problem, there can be:

• Lost productivity that occurs when people are absent from work or not working to full capacity
• Cost associated with counselling, mediation, compensation claims and possible legal action
• Other effects could be a reputation for poor management of workplace bullying, difficulties with recruiting staff and the business may be affected by a poor image.

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Workplace bullying behaviour is not acceptable at any workplace. Even if a person does not complain about workplace bullying, they may still be offended and affected by the behaviour and the behaviour may still be unacceptable.

Some individuals may initially be more tolerant of bullying than others. This does not mean the potential for harm is diminished. Bullying should not be regarded as normal workplace behaviour. Bullying can be stopped, and it should not be tolerated in any form.

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Every situation is different but bullying can be stopped. How you handle bullying will depend on your particular work environment and the nature of the bullying. If you are bullied you can take action informally or follow a more formal approach.

The following informal steps are recommended as a first approach in dealing with most bullying cases:

• Check for policies and procedures that deal with the prevention of workplace bullying. This could be a specific workplace anti-bullying policy or procedure, a grievance procedure or an issue resolution procedure.
• Seek advice, for instance from the contact officer or grievance officer, safety and health representative, safety and health officer, human resources officer or union official.
• Keep a detailed record of what happened, including place, date, time, persons and what was said or done and ensure that records are accurate.
• Consider approaching the bully and make it clear to the bully that you found the behaviour offensive, intimidating of harassing and that you would like it to stop.
• Sometimes people are not aware of how their behaviour towards others can be perceived. The person may not realise their behaviour offends you, so it is important to approach the person and let them know how you feel. You could also ask someone else (e.g. the grievance officer or human resources officer) to approach the bully on your behalf or to mediate or facilitate a face-to-face discussion and find a solution that is acceptable for anyone involved.
• Use a counselling service if available through your workplace. This may help you to develop ways of dealing with a bully or the effects of bullying.

More formal procedures may be required if the informal procedures are not successful or in situations where the allegations are more serious and there has been less favourable treatment or actual physical or psychological harm. This should be confirmed by preliminary enquiries before a formal investigation is undertaken

If the employer concludes that a formal investigation is warranted, a person who is not involved in that particular incident should undertake the investigation. Natural justice must be observed in all dealings with persons accused of workplace bullying.

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Natural justice must be observed in all dealings with persons accused of workplace bullying for two reasons.

Firstly, it is essential that people be protected against false and malicious accusations. Persons may be falsely accused of workplace bullying because of a desire on the part of the other persons to harm them or an over-reaction to a trivial or isolated incident. Indeed false accusations can be part of the bullying process in itself and people could be accused of bullying as a means of covering up bullying by someone else.

Secondly, if a person accused of bullying is denied natural justice, then any action taken against him or her may be overturned should he or she appeal against it. Therefore he or she escapes punishment even if the original accusation was correct.

Natural justice is generally considered to include the following rights to:

• Be fully informed of the complaint against the person accused, including being told the name of the person making the complaint
• Reply in full to the complaint
• Be considered innocent until proven to be guilty
• Representation by a person of his or her choice
• Have information about the complaint restricted to those who are directly involved
• Be given the benefit of any reasonably doubt
• Have all mention of the matter removed from his or her personal records if the case against him or her is not proven
• Be informed of any rights of appeal that may exist against any decision made on the matter.

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An isolated incident of inappropriate or unreasonable behaviour may be an affront to dignity at work but as a one-off incident it is not considered to be bullying. However, since an employer has a general duty to provide workers with a safe workplace and systems of work, single incidents of this type should not be ignored.

It is important to differentiate between a person’s legitimate authority at work and bullying. All employers have a legal right to direct and control how work is done, and managers have a responsibility to monitor workflow and give feedback on performance.

If a worker has obvious performance problems, these should be identified and dealt with in a constructive way that does not involve personal insults or derogatory remarks. In situations where a worker is dissatisfied with management practices, the problem should also be raised in a manner that does not involve personal abuse.

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Workers are less likely to report bullying and cooperate in inquiries if they:

• Don’t recognise bullying behaviour
• Have a lack of knowledge about bullying behaviours and their effects
• Are unsure about the correct procedure
•  Don’t know where to seek help
• Fear retribution from the bully or bullies
• Feel intimidated or embarrassed
• Believe that bullying is part of the workplace culture
• Feel that nothing will change
• Feel that their opportunities for promotion in the organisation or the industry will be affected.

Some workers may not be aware that the organisation they work for has established bullying prevention and management procedures and that their reports will be dealt with in a proper manner.

Even if a person does not complain about workplace bullying, they may still be offended or affected by the behaviour and the behaviour may still be unacceptable.

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The Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994 (WA) requires employers to ensure so far as is practicable a working environment in which employees are not exposed to hazards.

Workplace bullying should be treated as any other hazard at the workplace. If unreasonable or inappropriate behaviour or the potential for such behaviour is identified, there is a high risk of psychological and/or physical harm. Therefore steps should be taken to stop the behaviour.

It is the duty of the employer to, so far as is practicable, ensure that adequate systems are in place to prevent or stop the bullying behaviour. To address workplace bullying, or the potential for bullying, employers should:

• Consult with employees and safety and health representatives
• Implement adequate policies and procedures, which could include grievance procedures, a bullying prevention policy or procedures for reporting and investigating workplace bullying issues
• Appoint a contact person, grievance officer or mediator as a first contact point for enquiries, concerns and complaints
• Provide information and training on the relevant policies and procedures
• Monitor indicators of workplace bullying, including absence from work (sick leave, workers compensation leave, long service leave, unpaid work), turnover of staff and results of formal exit interviews.

If a bullying concern is reported to the employer, the employer must within reasonable time investigate the matter that has been reported, determine action, if any, and notify the employee(s) of the outcome. To be able to investigate raised concerns and resolve issues at the workplace the employer has the right to ask for more detailed information.

Employers are also required to attempt to resolve safety and health issues raised in the workplace in accordance with relevant procedures. This includes reported workplace bullying issues.

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Employees should take reasonable care for their own safety and health at work. They should also avoid adversely affecting the safety or health of any person in the workplace through any act or omission. Every employee must be made aware of their duty not to place the safety and health of others at risk by engaging in bullying or, where they are in a position of authority, to take steps to stop bullying if and when it happens.

Employees should follow the employer’s safety instructions, cooperate with their employer on work-related safety and health matters, use personal protective equipment provided and report to their employer any work-related injuries or anything that they consider to be a hazard in their workplace (which could include bullying).

If an internal workplace bullying complaint has been lodged within a workplace, the complainant is protected by qualified privilege, provided the complaint is not malicious, the facts presented in the complaint are true, the complaint is made in accordance with workplace procedures and it is not discussed with people who are not directly involved in the resolution of the complaint.

Qualified privilege is a concept that comes from common law. It protects an individual from a possible defamation charge under certain circumstances; that is, where a person makes a statement or receives information from another as part of carrying out public or private duties.

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As an employee at a mine (includes exploration, processing plants and designated ports), you may lodge a report about alleged bullying with Resources Safety if you have experienced or witnessed repeated unreasonable or inappropriate behaviour that creates a risk to health and safety.

You may lodge a report with Resources Safety even if you have already informed your employer about the alleged bullying.

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Initial reports of alleged bullying at mining workplaces may be received in writing, by phone or in person. Reports will be accepted from persons who have experienced or witnessed alleged bullying.

Resources Safety will require a written report:

• using the pro forma provided below, and
• with sufficient information to support an investigation.

Complete all applicable fields. The more information provided, the more effectively Resources Safety can deal with the issue. Where the information provided in the written report is insufficient, the person making the report will be asked to provide more details before a decision is made on whether to investigate further.

See Section 24(2) of the Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994 (WA) regarding disclosure restrictions.

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No.  To gain a better understanding of the inappropriate and unreasonable behaviour at the workplace and the actions already undertaken, and determine how to proceed, the Inspector must be able to obtain further details from the person who is allegedly being bullied or witnessed alleged bullying at the workplace.

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The Inspector will first contact the person who has lodged the report and obtain further details about the alleged bullying behaviour.

If an investigation is considered appropriate, it is the Inspector’s role to establish if the employer and the employee(s) concerned have met their obligations under the Act. It is not the role of an inspector to become involved in the specifics of alleged workplace bullying or to try and mediate between the alleged bullied person(s) and the alleged perpetrator(s).

Depending on the outcome of the investigation and the circumstances the Inspector can take one or more of the following actions:

• Take no action
• Provide information to the employer and/or employees on preventing and resolving
• Issue improvement notice(s). For instance, under certain circumstances the employer could be directed to ensure that adequate systems are in place to prevent or stop bullying, or to investigate the hazards reported by an employee. The perpetrator could be directed to stop the inappropriate or unreasonable behaviour that adversely affects the safety and health of other persons at the workplace
• Other enforcement action (e.g. prosecution) as deemed appropriate.

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Dealing with workplace bullying may involve laws other than the Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994 (WA). Some of these laws are listed below:

• When bullying involves direct or indirect discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, marital status, pregnancy, impairment, religious or political conviction, age, gender history, sexual orientation, family responsibility or family status, sexual or racial harassment, or spent conviction in accordance with the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (WA), the employee may lodge a complaint with the Commissioner for Equal Opportunity.
• Should an employee consider he or she has been dismissed as a result of making a complaint in relation to bullying, or is forced to resign due to the effects of bullying the employee may be entitled to lodge a claim under the unfair dismissal provisions in the Industrial Relations Act 1979 (WA). Contact Labour Relations, Department of Commerce, for further information. Any incidences of physical or sexual assault come under The Criminal Code and should be reported to the Western Australian Police.

The person affected may need to seek legal advice about how best to proceed.

Copies of these Acts can be downloaded from the State Law Publisher website.

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The Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994 (WA) contains general duties and responsibilities placed upon people to ensure their own safety at work, and that of others who are at the workplace or who might be injured by the work. These duties extend to the prevention of workplace violence and aggression.

Physical assault or the threat of physical harm of any form is also covered under The Criminal Code. Under these circumstances, the appropriate response is a direct complaint to the police. If a crime is happening or someone is in immediate danger, contact emergency services by telephoning 000.

All incidents involving violence or aggression should be reported to the employer, who should take appropriate action to prevent further occurrences.

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