HSE has refreshed its guidance on violence at work to help employers protect workers.

Work-related violence can have an impact on both the employer and its workers, including those who may witness an incident. It can cause:

• Injury.
• Stress and mental health conditions.
• Disability or death.

The HSE defines work-related violence as: “Any incident in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work.”

It is important to remember that this can include:

• Verbal abuse or threats, including face to face, online and via telephone.
• Physical attacks.

This might include violence from members of the public, customers, clients, patients, service users and students towards a person at work.

For violence to be work-related, it must be in connection with the work activity. For example, the following situations would not be included in this definition:

• Personal disputes between workers and other people, such as family members.
• Violence between people not at work, such as customers or service users.

For employers, violence can lead to increased staff sickness, poor morale, and a damaged reputation, making it difficult to recruit and keep staff. It can also mean extra cost, with higher insurance premiums and compensation payments.

The HSE guidance has been updated to:

• Simplify the navigation to help you easily find the information you need.
• Remove outdated content and replace it with up-to-date practical guidance.
• Remind you that HSE’s definition of violence includes aggression, such as verbal abuse or threats – this can be face to face, online or over the phone.

The guidance will help employers assess the risks, put the right controls in place to protect workers and report incidents and learn from them.

There is specific guidance on how to support workers after a violent incident. Separate advice for workers is available, which explains how they can help employers prevent violent incidents at work.