What Is Physical Harassment In The Workplace

What is physical harassment in the workplace when the person responsible does not work there? Clients, patients, residents and members of the public account for a large share of it in several sectors.

The employer duty does not change. Under work health and safety law the obligation is owed to the worker whoever creates the risk, and occupational violence from third parties is a recognised hazard.

What does change is reporting. Staff in health, aged care, disability services, retail and hospitality frequently treat it as part of the job and are rarely asked about it directly. A low incident count in those sectors usually measures reporting culture rather than exposure.

Effective controls are structural. Staffing levels that avoid lone work in higher-risk settings, explicit authority to end an interaction, and a manager who visibly backs that decision.

Safe Work Australia covers occupational violence. This is general information rather than legal advice, and obligations vary by state and territory.

See Sentrient’s occupational violence and aggression training and incident reporting software.