Workers and managers are often faced with personal and work-related problems, but dialogue usually prevails over confrontation. People usually manage to organize efficient and productive activities within the workplace. These are unique conditions that do not replicate easily elsewhere and that can constitute a very solid basis for efficiently combatting violence. While the special role of the workplace in respect of violence is more and more recognised, the believe that the fight against violence is just a cost, is put at serious strain. What appears instead is that the cost of violence represents a serious, sometime lethal threat to the efficiency and success of organisations.
Nothing is worst for an organisation than to be labelled as violent.
Violence-free organisations show the benefits of policies and action against violence at work and pave the way to new initiatives in this area. Based on these consideration , The ILO message is to act now, without any delay, against violence at work. The variety of behaviours which may be covered under the general rubric of violence at work is so large, the borderline with acceptable behaviours is often so vague, and the perception in different contexts and cultures of what constitutes violence is so diverse, that it becomes a significant challenge to both describe and define this phenomenon. In practice violence in the workplace may include a wide range of behaviours, often continuing and overlapping, as exemplified in the following box. Those who in their working life have never experienced or witnessed one of these behaviours are likely to be a very small, lucky minority.