Of lone workers, taxi drivers in many places are at the greatest risk of violence. A 1990 Australian study of taxi drivers disclosed that taxi drivers ran 28 times the risk of non-sexual assault and almost 67 times the rate of robbery compared to the community at large. Workplace violence often stems from a combination of causes, including individual behaviour as well as the work environment, the conditions of work, the way in which co-workers interact, the way that customers or clients interact with workers, and the interaction between managers and workers. The following table shows the complex interactions which generate violence at work. Violence causes immediate and often long-term disruption to interpersonal relationships, the organization of work and the overall working environment.
Employers bear the direct cost of lost work and improved security measures.
Indirect costs include reduced efficiency and productivity, loss in product quality, loss of company image and a reduction in the number of clients. In Canada, wage-loss claims by hospital workers from acts of violence and force have increased by 88 per cent since 1985, according to the British Columbia Workers Compensation Board. Tackling violence at work now There is growing recognition that in confronting violence a comprehensive approach is required. Instead of searching for a single solution good for any problem and situation, the full range of causes which generate violence should be analysed and a variety of intervention strategies adopted. The response to workplace violence is too frequently limited, episodic and ill-defined.