Despite the critical role they play in shaping society and organisational culture and practice, the role of government regulators and external influences is the least researched level of the vertical system structure (see Rasmussen’s Hierarchical Sociotechnical System Structure).  Much more work needs to be done in this space.

During COVID lockdowns, based on anecdotal evidence from my own experiences and from conversations with other people (I talk about workplace violence a lot) we saw a rapid increase in rates of occupational violence increased.  We saw a drop in economic conditions with businesses closing, people being stood down, and society facing high levels of uncertainty and stress. To add to this, it became a heated political battle between mainstream politics, self-serving and opportunistic independents taking full advantage of the situation and extremist groups growing their supporter base through hate-fuelled conspiracy campaigns.

While I’m yet to find any research on the impact that COVID has had on work-related violence (I’m sure that someone will be working on it), I have read a number of papers that touch on (and really only touch on it) related topics of political instability, deteriorating economic conditions, and politically motivated violence.

Kitaneh and Hamdan (2012) conducted a study into workplace violence against doctors and nurses in Palestinian hospitals.  Their research explored the correlation between political instability, poor economic conditions and the prevalence of work-related violence.  Palestine is in a constant state of political instability and poor economic conditions.  Researchers compared work-related violence data from Palestinian hospitals with results from similar research in other countries.

Alarmingly, their research identified that 80% of the 240 survey respondents reported being exposed during the previous 12 months.  20% of the violence was physical, while 60% was non-physical violence.  This is significantly higher than what similar studies from other countries have shown.

A similar study by AbuAlRub et al. (2007) on workplace violence rates in Iraq hospitals during times of conflict returned similar results.

Nayyer ul et al. (2014) conducted a study on workplace violence against doctors in Karachi hospitals and found that 79% of male respondents and 71% of female respondents had experienced workplace violence in 2012.  45% of victims reported that the violence was politically motivated.

To draw a comparison, UK workplace violence rates were reported to be 39%.  Still too much, but that’s about half of what doctors and nurses in politically unstable and poor economic countries experience.

In all of the studies mentioned above, psychological harm was the most prevalent and longest lasting consequence (save for fatalities, although, the psychological harm from workplace fatalities has a significant and lasting impact on colleagues, friends and families of the victim).  While the physical harm healed, the psychological harm was debilitating and long-lasting.

 

What does it mean on the ground?

Unfortunately, the volume and quality of research in this area are very slim, and much more needs to be done.

But what I can say from what is available and from observations and discussions throughout COVID, is that we can’t ignore the impact that political instability and the economic downturn have on the risk of occupational violence.  The emotional toll that events like COVID have on us as a society, both workers and perpetrators, contributes to rates of violence.  With Russia going to war with Ukraine, constant reporting by media of tensions between the West and China, and the growing presence of left and right-wing extremist groups, we must be prepared for social and political factors to impact our personal and working lives.

As leaders, we need to be proactive in our approach to providing adequate security, policies, procedures, training, and creating a work environment that fosters high employee health and wellbeing.  Given psychological harm is the most common and longest-lasting impact of workplace violence, employee health and wellbeing, a positive workplace violence safety climate, and strong social support within an organisation act as powerful mediators for resilience and workplace violence prevention.

References:

AbuAlRub RF, Khalifa MF, Habbib MB: Workplace violence among Iraqi hospital nurses. J Nurs Scholarsh 2007, 39:281–288.

Health Policy and Economic Research Unit, British Medical Association. Violence at work: the experience of UK doctors. London: BMA House; 2003.

Kitaneh, M., & Hamdan, M. (2012). Workplace violence against physicians and nurses in Palestinian public hospitals: a cross-sectional study. BMC Health Serv Res, 12(1), 469-469. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-12-469

Nayyer ul, I., Yousuful-Islam, M., Farooq, M. S., Mazharuddin, S. M., Hussain, S. A., & Umair ul, I. (2014). Workplace violence experienced by doctors working in government hospitals of Karachi. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak, 24(9), 698-699.