Prevention of Bullying at Workplace

This paper discusses the definition of workplace bullying, its adverse effects on mental and physical wellbeing, laws and legislations of Canada against bullying, strategies to prevent bullying, and recommendations to address workplace bullying.

PREVENTION OF BULLYING AT WORKPLACE
Introduction
Bullying is a term which is familiar to almost everyone in recent days. It is basically a kind of
harassment that can severely affect the mental wellbeing of any person. This unwelcomed
behaviour mostly characterized as insulting, malicious and offensive that can humiliate or
even injure the person as well. Bullying in the workplace is one of the greatest concerns in
Canada. It has become a health and safety issue for the workers (Nielsen, Einarsen, Notelaers
& Nielsen, 2016). In this regard it has gained widespread attention as bullying contributes to
the reduction in employee productivity. Indeed, it creates a toxic environment in the
workplace and employees suffer from several mental health hazards due to this (Verkuil,
Atasayi & Molendijk, 2015). This paper will thoroughly check the history and background of
bullying and how it harms the wellbeing of workers. It will also review some literatures to
find evidence in this regard. Finally the paper will conclude with some vital
recommendations that can be helpful in achieving a healthy environment in the workplace.
History and background
Workplace bullying is directly associated with variety of physical as well as psychological
issues suffered by victims and it includes stress, shock, excessive anger, loss of sleep,
frustration and others. In some studies it has also been found that victims can suffer from
post-traumatic disorder. The physical health injury due to bullying can also be immediate
such as headaches, somatisation, stomach-ache etc. Many previous studies have revealed that
workplace bullying can even cause some serious health problems and even it may lead to
heart attack or some other diseases which are life-threatening as well. In some cases, due to
the adverse effects of bullying, the victims could not come back to the work and at the same
time it is harmful for the reputation of the organization. It affects it productivity and turnover.

PREVENTION OF BULLYING AT WORKPLACE
The organizations also face difficulties in hiring if the reputation is affected due the practice
of bullying (Sansone & Sansone, 2015).
Research
In order to reach in the depth of analysis it is important to find the actual definition of the
term workplace bullying. According to some authors, bullying is basically defined by its
social manifestations and it is clearly classifiable similar to some unwanted behaviours during
interpersonal interactions in work settings (Ariza-Montes, Muniz, Montero-Simó & Araque-
Padilla, 2013). Again according to some other authors, bullying at work refers to offending,
harassing and socially excluding someone in the workplace and also affecting someone’s task
in a negative manner (Giorgi et al., 2016). Therefore, workplace bullying, an act or using
verbal words that affects the mental wellbeing of the workers in an organization.
Workplace bullying has been a great concern for the Canadians but unfortunately no specific
laws and regulations are not there addressing the issue. However, various rules and
regulations have been identified by the government that includes occupational health and
safety act and the jurisdiction is specific workplace violence and harassment but no
legislation specifically addressed workplace bullying that will establish the duty of employers
to protect the employees from risks within the workplace. In addition, some human right laws
that prohibits the harassments that are related to race, sex, age, religion or sexual orientation
and others. In certain difficult situation, these laws can be applied to bullying in order to save
the victim (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and safety, 2017).
Prevalence of bullying and its effects of the mental health of the victims are severe.
According to some authors, workplace bullying generates physical, psychological as well as
behavioural changes among the employees. Studies revealed the fact that bullying exposure
and witnessed bullying of others is associated with lower levels of psychological health

PREVENTION OF BULLYING AT WORKPLACE
status. Literatures indicated that victims of bullying suffers from several mental health
disorders such as anxiety, low self confidence, depression, disappointment, uncertainty and
others. Due to adverse effects of bullying, victims suffer from insomnia that leads to
frustration and depression. Moreover, in the comparative study between the psychological
health status of victims of bullying and the people who did not experience bullying, clearly
disclosed that fact that in case of the victims of bullying, their psychological health status is
comparatively poor (Chatziioannidis, Bascialla, Chatzivalsama, Vouzas & Mitsiakos, 2018).
Workplace violence is an extremely serious issue and organizations must follow proper
strategies to address and remove them from the working environment to create a safe and
secure workplace for all the employees. Some studies focussed on the intervention strategies
against bullying and they indicated that organizations should form anti-bullying policies in
this regard which will look upon the overall organizational culture and health. Again, studies
also indicated that conflict moderation can also be an effective strategy in order to address the
issue regarding workplace bullying. Coaching or training of the employees about the adverse
effects of bullying can be also helpful for the organization to create a bullying free
environment within the workplace. A strong communication among all the members of the
organization will be helpful. In this way, employees will have the access to the
communication channel and support systems provided by the higher authority of the
organization. Clear guidelines and fast and effective processing of complaints can be also
helpful as the strategy against bullying (Escartín, 2016).
Bullying has become an issue in many organizations and they are looking forward for the
most effective strategies that can help to address the issue and to uproot it in order to
maintain the safety of the workers which in turn will improve the productivity of the
organization. Various strategies have been implemented by various organizations to stop the
bullying within the organization and in most of the cases the strategies were helpful in

PREVENTION OF BULLYING AT WORKPLACE
stopping the bullying action. One of those successful strategies includes training and
education of the employees on the adverse effects of workplace bullying. Making all the
employees aware of the possible negative effects was helpful in many organizations. Again
some other studies in this regard indicated, an improved access to the communication
services available within the organization was also helpful in reducing the action of bullying
(Van den Brande et al., 2017).
Recommendations
According to Canadian Legislations and occupational safety act, no significant jurisdiction is
present in addressing the issue of bullying in the workplace and therefore, it is the duty of
parliament to look into matter and amend different laws to address the issue. Application of
some extensive literature on bullying as a control technique would be effective, and if all the
employees of any organization are motivated to have knowledge about the literatures and be
self-confident and respectful to each other, then that would be helpful. Training in this regard
is the best way to educate the employees (Akella, 2016). An effective leader to monitor the
working practice and to manage any conflict is also necessary. Employees should have
allowance to access the communication and support system of the organization in case of any
complaint or help. The duty of organization would be to set some policies and strategies to
ensure the safety of the workers whist working.
Conclusion
This study represents a comprehensive attempt to review the definition of workplace bullying
and its adverse effects on the mental as well as the physical wellbeing of the victims of it.
The paper clearly depicted the issues that victims of bullying might face and how it affects
the reputation of the organization also been clearly portrayed in the paper. A thorough
research has been made to find the answers of several questions such as definition of

PREVENTION OF BULLYING AT WORKPLACE
bullying, laws and legislations of Canada against bullying, health impacts on employees,
strategies to prevent bullying and some proven strategies against bullying in the workplace.
Finally some recommendations, addressing workplace bullying has also been illustrated in
this paper. It is being assumed that government action in this regard is essential and if all the
recommendations are duly followed then it will be easier to develop a better workplace
environment by removing bullying from it.

PREVENTION OF BULLYING AT WORKPLACE
References
Akella, D. (2016). Workplace Bullying: Not a Manager’s Right?. SAGE Open, 6(1),
2158244016629394. Retrieved from
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2158244016629394
Ariza-Montes, A., Muniz, N. M., Montero-Simó, M. J., & Araque-Padilla, R. A. (2013).
Workplace bullying among healthcare workers. International journal of
environmental research and public health, 10(8), 3121-3139. Doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph10083121
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and safety. (2017, November 07). Bullying in the
Workplace. Retrieved from
https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/psychosocial/bullying.html#top
Chatziioannidis, I., Bascialla, F. G., Chatzivalsama, P., Vouzas, F., & Mitsiakos, G. (2018).
Prevalence, causes and mental health impact of workplace bullying in the Neonatal
Intensive Care Unit environment. BMJ open, 8(2), e018766. Retrieved from
https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/2/e018766
Escartín, J. (2016). Insights into workplace bullying: psychosocial drivers and effective
interventions. Psychology research and behavior management, 9, 157. Doi:
https://dx.doi.org/10.2147%2FPRBM.S91211
Giorgi, G., Perminienė, M., Montani, F., Fiz-Perez, J., Mucci, N., & Arcangeli, G. (2016).
Detrimental effects of workplace bullying: impediment of self-management
competence via psychological distress. Frontiers in psychology, 7, 60. Doi:
https://dx.doi.org/10.3389%2Ffpsyg.2016.00060

PREVENTION OF BULLYING AT WORKPLACE
Nielsen, M. B., Einarsen, S., Notelaers, G., & Nielsen, G. H. (2016). Does exposure to
bullying behaviors at the workplace contribute to later suicidal ideation? A three-
wave longitudinal study. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health.
Doi:10.5271/sjweh.3554
Sansone, R. A., & Sansone, L. A. (2015). Workplace bullying: a tale of adverse
consequences. Innovations in clinical neuroscience, 12(1-2), 32. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4382139/
Van den Brande, W., Baillien, E., Vander Elst, T., De Witte, H., Van den Broeck, A., &
Godderis, L. (2017). Exposure to workplace bullying: the role of coping strategies in
dealing with work stressors. BioMed research international, 2017. Retrieved from
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2017/1019529/
Verkuil, B., Atasayi, S., & Molendijk, M. L. (2015). Workplace bullying and mental health: a
meta-analysis on cross-sectional and longitudinal data. PloS one, 10(8), e0135225.
Doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0135225