-Carola Mittag
As I sat down at my computer today to begin February’s Blog, I was interrupted by a phone call from an acquaintance who had moved from Ontario to New York City about two years ago. After the initial “how are yous” and catching up, he began to tell me about his recent experience in the workplace.
As background, we met many years ago and have remained in touch periodically over the years. My friend is an international keynote speaker and has spent the last 20 years transforming people, workplaces and communities through empathic behavior change. The emphasis on his presentations focuses on empowering people to be the best versions of themselves.
This friend is an avid advocate for living healthy through eating well and keeping physically fit. He started working for an employer last year and was involved in organizing volunteers for various events hosted by that organization. A few weeks ago he was physically assaulted (punched) by another employee. Besides being totally caught off guard, this goes against everything he believes in and discusses in his presentations, that being “to help staff become more self-aware of their interactions and behaviors and to increase employee engagement”.
The assault was reported to the NYC police where the response was that they wouldn’t do anything because he wasn’t injured and nothing prosecutable happened. The offender had taken my friend’s phone and tossed it away shortly after; he was able to retrieve it. The police said, had the phone been taken, then there would have been a felony committed and grounds for an arrest, but not for the physical assault.
We also talked about the follow-up by HR and management which, to put it simply, was almost non-existent.
This was a clear-cut case of workplace violence. How differently it would have been handled in Ontario. Under Bill 168; Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act (Violence and Harassment in the Workplace), it is the employer’s responsibility to deal with this and ensure staff feel safe and work in a healthy environment. Violence and harassment investigations are mandatory when there is a formal complaint, or if the employer otherwise becomes aware of behaviour that contravenes the company’s policy.
Complaints should be investigated by someone in senior management, an HR representative and a member of the JHSC or health and safety representative. Investigation stages may include:
- Document review
- Interviews with the complainant
- Witness interviews
- An interview or interviews with the alleged harasser
- Examination of photos if applicable
- A review of any relevant electronic records, such as emails, phone records, texts, or video
All investigation actions (meetings, interviews, etc.), steps, and reviews must be carefully documented. Doing so supports due diligence. As well, the worker or workers who made the complaint must be kept apprised through the investigative process of the progress of the investigation.
I have also encountered workplace harassment, back in the day when it was overlooked, swept under the table and simply ignored. As we become more aware and open to discussing mental health, every incident of workplace violence and/or harassment must be addressed. It is an issue of a workplace’s health and safety culture.
I shifted from the original topic of this month’s Blog to tell this story as I felt it important to address the issue of workplace violence and how it is handled by HR and upper management.
Watch for next month’s Blog published in the first week of March.
Sincerely,
Carola Mittag
Consultant and Editor for Mentor Safety Consultants Inc.