Violence and abuse in the workplace

This chapter sets the stage for the collection. It begins with some examples of workplace violence and abuse, moving then to why addressing workplace violence and abuse is vital. It then examines violence and abuse in workplace relationships such as toxic leadership, bullying, and sexual harassment. Consideration is then given to exploitative work conditions including child labor, human slavery, and sweat shops. High-risk occupations such as nursing, policing, soldiering, first responding, and firefighting are reviewed in some detail. Attention is then paid to workplace accidents, injuries, and deaths, the objective being the creation of safety cultures in workplaces. Initiatives to reduce workplace violence and abuse are then offered. These included increasing workplace civility and respect, suicide prevention, safety and health training, reducing toxic leadership and bullying, increasing fairness, increasing safety on the job, and reducing stress.