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Source: ONE News -
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The number of people suffering violence in the workplace could be even higher than a recent survey discovered, according to the director of an anti-occupational violence organisation.
Haydn Olsen told TV ONE's Breakfast the findings of a recent Massey University study, which found a third of employees have suffered violence at work, seemed a little low.
"I think we have a real issue with violence in New Zealand at work, in society, at homes," he said.
"Violence is not just physical... it can be physical it can be psychological - so bullying is a form of psychological violence.
"We find our rates are fairly high within the work place so we're talking about violence between employees and violence that might spill over from society, and our rates are high in both counts."
The Massey University survey of 96 organisations found nearly a fifth of the 2466 cases of workplace violence they reported involved physical injury, and 175 cases led to lost time and/or hospitalisation.
This accounted for a total of 572 lost working days directly attributable to workplace violence.
The health sector had the highest rate of workplace violence with 42 of the 175 most serious cases of physical assault. The rate is five times the magnitude of the next highest sector, agriculture.
"I think the employer needs to take some responsibility for leadership in this area. It's about creating the kind of workplace culture that inhibits this sort of thing happening," Olsen said.
"Unfortunately, too often it's tolerated or accepted or people say 'that's just the way things are' and we've really got to stop doing that."
Olsen said in Australia for example, bullying is estimated to have cost $12 to $36 billion a year in terms of loss of productivity, grievances and litigation.
He said employers need to take a proactive approach to prevent it from happening.
"There are two aspects - how do we prevent it in the first place, and that can come down to training or de-escalation training, and we also need more security at work?" he said.
"Unfortunately most of the stats show people don't want to speak up about it, there's such a lot of fear for someone to make a formal complaint for example so the chances are they won't."
Olsen said people who are victims of bullying at work need to feel their grievances will be taken seriously.
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