Obligation to Protect Employees From Bullying

Under Work Health and Safety laws employers are required to eliminate or minimise health and safety risks in the workplace so far as reasonably practicable. This obligation includes a responsibility to ensure employees are free from discrimination and harassment in the workplace. In the recent decision of Martyn Campbell v Jeffrey Rowe the Executive Director of SafeWork South Australia expressed that it is insufficient for employers to merely have a ‘no bullying’ policy in place. In this case a supervisor was charged under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA) for exposing a worker to a risk of death or serious injury, following a ‘workplace prank.’

The Tribunal acknowledged a history of bullying behaviour in that workplace. The judgment provided that to comply with their duties , employers must ‘live and breathe’ anti-bullying policies. This requires steps to be taken to ensure anti-bullying procedures are engrained in the culture of the workplace.

SafeWork Australia promotes a pro-active approach to address the risk of workplace bullying. This should involve early identification of behaviour or situations which may increase the risk of bullying, implementing targeted control measures and monitoring and reviewing their efficacy. Contact Safe Industries Australia to ensure that you meet the standards required of an employer with regards to workplace bullying.