Issue:
In 2004, almost one in five Canadian victims of violence reported that the violence took place at work; with approximately 356,000 incidents of workplace violence being reported. The importance of violence at work has led to the development of specific legislation and resources in most Canadian provinces. Yet, workplace violence in Canada appears to be on the rise. This increase in violence is particularly alarming as work-related injuries that are not due to workplace violence have declined substantially. As part of a comprehensive primary and secondary prevention approach to workplace violence it is important to understand how often workplace violence occurs, which groups are at the highest risk for workplace violence, if risk for workplace violence differs depending on the work context or the time of day. This study will examine the incidence and consequences of workplace violence using different population-level data sources and workers’ compensation data.
Objectives:
•To describe the incidence of workplace violence in Canada, both overall and for particular demographic (e.g. men versus women) and workplace groups (e.g. industries).
•To identify groups of workers who are at risk of workplace violence, and to understand the relationships between these risk groups, and to examine if risk groups differ depending on data source, or type of workplace violence (e.g. sexual violence versus non-sexual violence, or workplace violence from co-workers/supervisors compared to violence from clients).
Anticipated Results:
The results of this project will help employers, policymakers and health care providers develop ways to handle workplace violence that are sensitive to the different experiences of men and women. In particular, provincial workers’ compensation agencies will be interested in the analyses that compare the incidence and consequences of workplace violence across provinces. The results from this project will help towards applied solutions to prevent, and minimise the consequences of, workplace violence in Canada.
Investigators:
Peter Smith, Cameron Mustard, A Chambers, P Donnelly, S Geoffrion, S Guay, A Marchand
