Occupational violence incidents are on the rise and many industries including healthcare, council workers, hospitality, community services, call centre staff, and other service workers are impacted by this on a daily basis.
Occupational violence is any incident where a person is abused, threatened, or assaulted while at work causing physical or psychological harm. It includes actions by clients, customers, the public, or co-workers. It is also identified as a hazard in the Code of Practice on Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace. Occupational violence commonly presents as:
- Verbal abuse – shouting, swearing, verbal threats, harassment
- Physical abuse – kicking, punching, spitting, assault, throwing furniture and other items
- Online abuse – abuse via online platforms - social media, online chat, phone calls, text messages, and email
Recently our team has interviewed over 40 workers on this topic, and when asked if they felt incidents were on the rise, the answer was an emphatic yes from all, in terms of both severity and frequency.
Statistics published by Safe Work Australia in 2024 support this:
- Over the last 5 years, there has been a 56% increase in the number of serious workers’ compensation claims for assault and exposure to workplace violence
- When it comes to specific behaviours, angry or hostile behaviour, shouting and swearing, and intimidation and insults had the highest number of reports
- Clients and customers were the most common source of work-related violence
Under work health and safety laws, employers are responsible for implementing risk management strategies to prevent and respond to these incidents.
It is important not to normalise occupational violence regardless of your industry or profession – it is never “just part of the job”. It is also helpful to manage expectations about things such as wait times, whether customers are waiting for a coffee or waiting for a doctor’s appointment!
Reporting incidents is vital to understanding your organisations hazards and risks. Encouraging a positive reporting culture, for both physical and psychological injuries and incidents, will support the identification of your hazards and risks. Collating data will help your Officers to meet their due diligence requirements and ensure they have oversight of these hazards and risks.
Three steps you can take right now to support your management of occupational violence risks
- Review your incident data – but enquire to see if all incidents are being reported
- Do a risk assessment and eliminate or minimise this risk as far as reasonably practicable
- Encourage your team to report incidents, regardless of severity – all should be reported
Want More Guidance or Support?
- Read our blog from 14 July 2025 regarding Online Abuse in the Workplace
- Refer to your safety regulator’s Code of Practice on Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace
- Safe Work Australia also has some fantastic resources online
You can out to us at The Mindful Risk Group if you would like to chat about your organisation’s exposure to occupational violence risks. We can complete a Gap Analysis to support your compliance needs.
Have a great week,
Bron