Bullying and Harassment at Work

Workplace bullying is nowadays recognised as a widespread and serious safety and health problem in working life. As a result of two decades of research, a substantial body of knowledge exists about bullying, related to both organisational factors and the features of work that promotes bullying, as well as the potential effects of bullying and harassment on the health and well-being of the victims. Bullying can have severe influence on the health and well-being of the targets of bullying but also on those who witness bullying in their workplace. Bullying is not a problem only to the targets but to the whole workplace. Economic consequences to organisations and to the society can be considerable.

A lot of research knowledge on workplace bullying already exists. We have also experience in handling these problems at the workplaces, and practical measures to help and support both the targets of bullying as well as those workplaces where bullying has taken place. Spreading information to all those working in this area is important. Researchers, occupational health and safety professionals as well as practitioners still need to discuss and explore the measurement of bullying and harassment, and the practical tools available to handle bullying situations.