The role of health and safety risk assessments

Public services union UNISON explains in its guide for safety reps, Tackling bullying at work, that in most workplaces bullying at work is tackled by focusing on the problem once it has occurred. This means that people are hurt before something is done. Instead, it says that bullying should be tackled like any other workplace hazard and that the basis for any action to tackle bullying should be risk assessment, which aims to prevent harm occurring in the first place.

UNISON recommends using the approach developed by the Hazards Campaign, based on Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance on risk assessment. The following guidance is based on this and other union guidance about using a risk assessment approach to tackle bullying and harassment:

Step 1 — identify the hazard

A hazard is something that may cause harm, such as bullying. Bullying behaviour can take many forms including persistent, offensive, intimidating, or humiliating behaviour that may undermine an individual or group of employees and may cause them to suffer stress or other harm. Workplace policies must include a definition and list examples of behaviour that is deemed unacceptable.

Guidance produced by college and lecturers’ union UCU’s health and safety adviser, Stopping bullying and harassment at work, explains that: “People, who continually undermine, verbally abuse, threaten and denigrate those they manage or work with, causing stress and other ill health, are a health and safety hazard” and “Anyone who humiliates or undermines staff, sets unreasonable deadlines or targets, shouts at staff or makes veiled threats or commits other acts characteristic of bullying and harassment is a workplace hazard.”

Step 2 — decide who might be harmed and how

The UCU guidance sets out that the staff at risk are those on the receiving end of this behaviour who may start to show the usual symptoms of bullying and harassment-induced stress and anxiety.

And UNISON points out that those who are the target of a bully are clearly at risk, but so are those who witness the bullying behaviour. Results from one UNISON survey on bullying revealed that nearly 23% of those who witnessed bullying became worried that they would also become a target for the bully and over 4% had decided to change jobs for this reason.

There may also be particularly vulnerable groups at risk from bullying and harassment such as young workers, those on work experience, or those with mental health conditions. All of them may suffer fear, anger, stress, anxiety, and/or depression. Patients and clients may also witness the bullying and other forms of harm may be suffered. Some victims of bullying have taken their own lives (see page 18).

General union Unite identifies the following groups of workers as being particularly at risk of bullying and harassment: women, black, Asian and ethnic minorities, disabled workers, LGBT, young and older men and women.

Step 3 — estimate the chance of harm and identify ways to avoid or reduce that risk

To work out the chance of harm, employers need to think about how likely it is that those at risk will suffer harm and how serious that harm may be. This helps to set priorities. Clearly, the longer any bullying goes on, the greater the risk of harm. In addition, vulnerable individuals may be less able to cope and may therefore suffer more serious harm.

The second part of this step is to think about what measures can be put in place to avoid or reduce the risks. As already mentioned, most guidance on bullying looks at controlling the problem once it has occurred, when the approach should be about putting measures in place to prevent it happening or reducing its consequence before it occurs. So what measures could be taken? These might include:

• information and/or training for all staff on the issue of bullying and what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour; and

• promoting a workplace culture which does not unnecessarily punish individuals if something goes wrong, but instead uses the event as a learning experience together with a policy, systems and procedures which promote positive behaviour and tackle negative behaviour at its outset.

The UCU guidance explains that the risks to those affected will increase over time if the bullying and harassment is not challenged and staff remain unsupported by the employer’s failure to recognise the hazard and respond appropriately.

Step 4 — record and apply the findings

The employer should record that the assessment has been done, and include the important findings and details of any groups particularly at risk. Any steps identified to prevent or reduce the risk of bullying must now be applied.

The UCU guidance advises staff affected by bullying or harassment to record it and reps to collate it and consider a survey either of the department, faculty or site affected or of the institution as a whole, identifying “hot spots”.

Bullying and harassment or dignity at work policies should set out how those being bullied can raise their concerns and how those accused of bullying should be treated. The procedures set out in these policies should be applied and appropriate sanctions implemented against those causing distress and ill health to staff (see Chapter 6).

Step 5 — review the assessment and update it as necessary

Ask the following questions:

• Do the measures taken appear to be working?

• Has something happened or has there been some change which means a review is necessary?

• How do staff feel? Maybe they could be surveyed.

Alternatively, have there been any complaints of bullying behaviour? If so then the measures of prevention and control will need to be reviewed.

The UCU guidance says that a few months after the incidents (or incident) of bullying have been identified, evaluated, and action taken to prevent the hazard, it is important to review whether, in the department or group of staff affected, sickness absence has reduced and bullying ceased. If it has not then it will be necessary to return to step one again.