What are harmful workplace behaviours?

Harmful workplace behaviours are defined as:

  • Bullying
  • Harassment
  • Sexual harassment
  • Violence and aggression
  • Conflict or poor workplace relationships

Like any other physical health and safety risk, psychological health risks from bullying, sexual harassment, violence and other harmful workplace behaviours must be managed.

Such behaviours can have a significant negative impact on individuals and the workplace. They can occur in all types of work situations.

Harmful behaviours may be individual or interpersonal issues. However, broader environmental factors, such as poor organisational culture and a lack of leadership often cause or exacerbate harmful behaviours.

Preventing harmful behaviours

Did you know?

There are some key factors that increase the risk of harmful behaviours in workplaces:

  • Role conflict
  • Role ambiguity
  • High work demands
  • Unclear and inconsistent expectations on workplace behaviours

This means that managers at all levels play a key role in preventing harmful behaviours.  The SafeWork Australia Model Code of Practice sets out recommended steps for reducing the risk of poor managerial support and role conflict and ambiguity. Above all, preventing harmful behaviours requires setting and reinforcing clear and consistent expectations about performance and conduct in the workplace.

Responding to harmful behaviours when they occur

Consistent and proportionate sanctions against instigators have been identified as a very strong predictor of satisfaction with organisational responses to harmful behaviour.

Comprehensive, safe, trusted reporting and complaint resolution systems, and supports for affected workers are critical to minimise the impact of harmful behaviours should they occur.

Wellbeing initiatives which are designed to help individual workers to manage their own health are frequently relied upon in the absence of other more systemic controls that directly address sources of workplace stress. These can help workers to manage their health but are not psychosocial hazard controls as they do not ‘control’ sources of workplace stress such as harmful behaviours.

The below hierarchy of controls for managing the risk of harmful workplace behaviours is a blueprint for preventing and responding to harmful workplace behaviours.

Specific information about managing the risk of exposure to aggression and violence in any workplace can be found here.

Specific information about managing the risk of exposure to customer aggression and violence can be found here.

Specific information about sexual harassment can be found here.