Planning to be bully-free

By - , Build 153

Poor project planning can have a knock-on effect, causing bullying on site as workers are intimidated into unsafe practices just to get the job done.

MOST EMPLOYERS would not openly support bullying and are likely to have a policy against such behaviour. However, the construction industry’s culture can sometimes appear to condone bullying, for example, using the commonplace saying ‘harden up’ may push workers to perform unsafe acts.

Negative knock-on effects

Bullying affects people physically and mentally and may disrupt workplaces and reduce productivity due to:

  • impaired performance
  • increased absences
  • lower morale
  • mistakes and accidents
  • diminished company reputation
  • resignations and difficulty recruiting
  • poor customer service and product quality.

Overt and covert bullying

Bullying falls into two categories – personal attacks and task-related attacks.

Personal attacks or direct attacks typically focus on one person. Examples include belittling remarks, insults and threats, excluding people and physical attacks.

Task-related attacks or indirect attacks link more closely to the work. Examples include handing out unachievable tasks, not giving the appropriate training or tools for the job and supplying incorrect information.

Shortcuts when pressure is on

Construction projects can be stressful as time and budgets are often tight.

Site Safe has identified that workers knowingly violate safety rules because of pressure from their boss or their peers to take shortcuts.

It is easy to tell workers to be safe, but when there’s a deadline to meet, the unwritten rule that says ‘just get the job done’ is understood. At that point, unsafe behaviour may happen, as safety is often seen to slow things down.

Good planning improves safety

A well thought-out plan that incorporates health and safety from the beginning of a project improves a company’s safety performance by generating:

  • good contractor and employee relationships
  • effective communication
  • better problem solving
  • improved project planning and productivity
  • staff empowered to make decisions
  • monitored accountabilities.

Safe workers have higher morale and are more productive. That’s because identifying and solving problems and improving planning and communication results in better worker effort.

When projects operate so that hazards and risks are understood and planned for, safety and productivity will follow.

For more

Free templates for health and safety planning are available from Site Safe at www.sitesafe.org.nz. WorkSafe NZ has a free guideline, Preventing and responding to workplace bullying, with support, examples and guidance.

Download the PDF

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Articles are correct at the time of publication but may have since become outdated.

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