Harassment workplace

The quality of life experienced by people with MCS is shaped, to a great extent, by the level of awareness of environmental health issues where they live and work. Some are recipients of workplace accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act others are harassed and ostracized at work, or fired from their jobs. Some disabled by chemical exposures in the workplace receive workers compensation the majority of chemical-illness claims are denied. Some cities, schools and other institutions have adopted fragrance-free policies and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs to reduce chemical barriers and dangers in public places others still resist despite all the prevalence studies and research indicating that MCS is a serious threat to public health. 

Marasco, C. (1994, April). Harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Workforce Report. Washington, DC American Chemical Society. 

In addition to sexual harassment and accommodation of religious beliefs, equal treatment for individuals with disabilities is a significant issue for the treatment of both employees and customers. The Americans with Disabilities Act provides equal opportunity for persons who are disabled in the workplace. This act prohibits discrimination in all aspects of employment from hiring to firing, similar to practices that are covered by equal opportunity employment laws. Persons are considered disabled if they have either a physical or mental impairment that significantly limits one or more major life activities or have a record of impairment. Also, discrimination against a person who has a relationship with a disabled person is prohibited. 

While in most cases this training was well received, the increased focus at the same time on both diversity issues and sexual harassment had some negative ramifications in the industrial workplace. Some more subtle biases and barriers began to crop up as backlash—cases in which men in an organization were reluctant to work with women because they weren t sure how their actions would be interpreted, because they didn t want to deal with potential harassment issues. 

Richman, J. A. et al. (1999). Sexual harassment and generalized workplace abuse among university employees Prevalance and mental health correlates. American Journal of Public Health 89 358-63. 

Low, K S., Radhakrishnan, P, Schneider, K T, Rounds, J. (2007). The experiences of bystanders of workplace ethnic harassment Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 57(10), 2261-2297. 

Safety professionals should be aware that there is a difference between discrimination and harassment. The laws and regulations prohibiting discrimination in the workplace are primarily focused on policies and decisions. Harassment, on the other... 

As can be seen, the human as well as monetary costs of a discriminatory action can be very expensive. Safety professionals with responsibilities within the area should consider a proactive policy which prohibits any type of discrimination in the woik-place. Generally, an effective policy includes, but is not limited to, a policy statement that the company or organization is committed to preventing harassment and discrimination in their workplace and must... 

In snmmation, safety professionals are usually not expected to be experts in the area of employment discrimination and harassment, however, it is important that safety professionals have a firm grasp on the concepts and procedures involved in addressing issnes and situations within the company or business. Safety professionals are often the eyes and ears of the company and frequently see or hear potential issues while performing their various activities within the operations. The best method of avoiding charges of discrimination and harassment in the workplace is a carefully crafted and strictly enforced policy that prohibits any type of possible discrimination or harassment to exist in the first place. However, in the event of an allegation of discrimination or harassment by an applicant or employee, safety professionals... 

It is important for safety professionals to understand who is protected under the ADEA, as well as the protections afforded to applicants and employees who may be within this protected class. Proactive measures to create and maintain a workplace free of discrimination and harassment should be the ultimate goal of the safety professional and any incident of age-based discrimination identified by the safety professional in the management of the safety functions should be reported to management in accordance with company policy. 

In the area of workplace harassment or the prevention of a hostile work environment, safety professionals should be aware that what may be considered to be horseplay by some may be considered workplace harassment to others. The harassment is viewed through the eyes of the employee being harassed. Although most safety professionals do not permit any type of horseplay in their operations, it is important for safety professionals to be aware of other activities, such as name calling, practical jokes, and other similar activities that may also create a hostile work environment for an individual employee who is protected under the ADEA as well as other federal antidiscrimination laws. 

Most companies and organizations go the extra mile to ensure that their workplace is free of any type of discrimination or harassment. Safety professionals often place a key role in ensuring that the workplace is free of discrimination or harassment due to the fact that the safety professional is involved in every aspect of the operation and thus serves as the eyes and ears of the company or organization. 

Whenever a safety professional identifies any situation or issue within the operation that possesses any aspect of potential discrimination or harassment, it is important for the safety professional to be able to report this situation or issue to the appropriate managerial team manber to investigate and address the situation or issue. Taking a proactive approach to CTeate a diverse workplace which is free of discrimination and harassment is far less costly than to overlook any potential issue or situation of discrimination or harassment. 

Although we covered a broad spectrum of the major federal antidiscrimination laws earlier in this text, safety professionals should be aware that there are other federal laws and directives as well as state and local laws that prohibit discrimination and harassment in the workplace. These laws include, but are not limited to, the following ... 

Harassment outside of the workplace may also be illegal if there is a link with the workplace. For example, if a supervisor harasses an employee while driving the employee to a meeting. (See further information on harassment at http //www. eeoc.gov/laws/practices/harassment.cfm)... 

Workplace violence is any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at a work site. It includes verbal abuse, physical assault, and homicide. 

Senior management must make it crystal clear to its employees that harassment and threats will not be tolerated. Garry Mathiason, a San Francisco lawyer who specializes in workplace liability law, stated, If you have a policy or plan in place, then what is tolerated and what is not become part of the culture (Dunkel, 1994, p. 70). This is especially important with verbal threats. Company policy must be firm that verbal threats will not be tolerated. Mathiason goes on to say, If you doubt me (ask yourself) when was the last time you made a joke going through an airport metal detector (Dunkel, 1994, p. 70). 

Unhappy customers who harass and intimidate utility workers, either in a company location or in the field, pose a threat to the utility worker. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) singles out utility employees as being the most vulnerable to workplace violence. This is because they deliver services, often work alone or in small groups, and may exchange money with the public. The most at-risk workers are the billing service staff, meter readers, and field staff who make house calls to investigate customer con laints or install services. Those responsible for shutting off water services are perhaps the most likely to encounter customer hostility. 

Many states require sexual harassment/safe workplace training. California s law " is one of the most stringent, for example, and mandates that employers with 50 or more employees provide 2 hours of training and education to all supervisory employees once every two years. Many businesses and organizations provide more extensive training. 

Sexual harassment is defined as behavior that constitutes unwelcome sexual advances. The behavior could take the form of verbal or physical abuse or unwelcome requests for sexual favors. This behavior may involve persons of the opposite sex or of the same sex, and may involve supervisor-employee behavior, or employee-employee behavior. In addition to being illegal, sexual harassment creates tremendous stress and conflict within the workplace. 

Interestingly, bullying was not a factor in many of the cases and is not a primary indicator that a student who is bullied poses a threat to the school as a form of retaliation. Bullying, however, is a real concern and has been a factor in some of the cases in which students who were the targets of taunts and bullying described this as one of the reasons for their actions. When bullying was a factor, it was often described by the victim as torment, and if this same behavior was present in a workplace, it could be described as harassment or assault (Vossekuil et al., 2002). 

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