One in five violent incidents occur in workplace

Fri. Feb. 16 2007, CTV.ca News Staff

Nearly one in five violent incidents -- including physical assault, sexual assault and robbery -- transpired at the victim's workplace in 2004, according to the first-ever study of its kind. "Many of the occupational groups the report is referring to are people who work with the public," Glenn French, of the Canadian Initiative on Workplace Violence, told CTV Newsnet.

"People who work with the public have a much greater chance of being physically accosted while on the job, so we're looking at educators, healthcare workers, home visitors, all these kinds of folk."

There were more than 356,000 violent incidents in the workplace in 10 provinces, Statistics Canada reported Friday. The majority, 71 per cent, were classified as physical assaults.

Men and women were equally likely to have experienced workplace violence, but men were more likely to be injured. Specifically, 27 per cent of incidents involving male victims resulted in injuries, compared with 17 per cent of those involving female victims.

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Workplace violence was more common in certain employment sectors, the government agency found. One-third of incidents involved those who worked in social assistance or health-care services such as hospitals, nursing or residential care facilities.

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Workplace violence was more common in certain employment sectors, the government agency found. One-third of incidents involved those who worked in social assistance or health-care services such as hospitals, nursing or residential care facilities.

A high proportion of violent incidents also took place in accommodation or food services, retail or wholesale trade, and educational services sectors. Violent workplace incidents were twice as likely, at 37 per cent, to be reported to police as those that occurred outside the workplace, at 17 per cent.

Overall, 57 per cent of violent workplace incidents involving male victims were reported to the police, compared to 20 per cent of those involving female victims. The survey also questioned respondents on whether they had spoken to anyone about the violent incidents.

In nearly nine in 10 cases, victims said they informed a co-worker. Victims said they told family members, friends, and neighbours in about two-thirds of the incidents. They told a doctor or a nurse about one-fifth of the time.

In contrast, among violent incidents that took place outside the workplace, victims sought support from a co-worker 30 per cent of the time, family members in 47 per cent of incidents, friends or neighbours in 76 per cent of incidents, and a doctor or nurse in 6 per cent.

The study used data from the 2004 General Social Survey that questioned respondents in about 24,000 households about the prevalence of violence for three offences -- physical assault, sexual assault and robbery -- over the past year.

The study defined a "workplace" as a commercial or institutional establishment, such as a restaurant or bar, a school, a commercial or office building, a factory, a store, a hospital or a prison.