Workplace Violence And Harassment On The Increase In Europe

Violence, bullying and harassment are becoming increasingly common features of European workplaces, according to a new report by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA). Yet the response from organizations and national governments is widely felt to be inadequate. 

Third-party violence and harassment affect from 5% to 20% of European workers. The report “Workplace Violence and Harassment: A European Picture”, includes international statistics collected by the European Risk Observatory, part of EU-OSHA. Its recent pan-European workplace survey, (European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks) shows that 40% of European managers are concerned about workplace violence and harassment, but only about 10-25% have implemented procedures to deal with it. The problem is even more acute in health and social work and in education, with more than 50% of managers identifying it as a health and safety problem.