New Brunswick has new regulations to help reduce incidents of workplace violence and harassment.
Kelly VanBuskirk, a lawyer in Saint John, said employers must perform a risk assessment to determine the likelihood of violence in their workplace.
“Just recently in Moncton, we saw an instance of a nurse who was assaulted in her workplace,” said VanBuskirk. “These are the types of occurrences that happen with some unfortunate regularity.
Employers must also create a code of practice outlining how they will prevent workplace harassment.
VanBuskirk said employees also have a role to play under the new regulations.
“Employees have to avoid any sort of behaviour that could constitute violence or harassment,” he said. “Secondly, we have to take active steps now to report signs of harassment or violence in our workplace.”
Employers: Do you know your responsibilities under the upcoming regulations on violence and harassment? We can help. https://t.co/NBbyZB0Qaz pic.twitter.com/T6OX20CRm7
— WorkSafeNB (@WorkSafeNB) March 28, 2019
VanBuskirk agrees the regulations are a good first step to prevent violence and harassment in the workplace.
“As a society, we are going to have to really examine how we’ve reached this point that we’ve reached where, in some studies, Canada ranks in the top 10 in the world for bullying.”
VanBuskirk noted over 20 per cent of Canadians workers have been subjected to violence and over 50 per cent have dealt with harassment.
