6.3 Bullying and Stress as a Health and Safety Issue.
An employer’s duty of care to look after the health and safety of employees includes the reasonable prevention of bullying and stress related injuries in the workplace.
The Health and Safety Authority defines workplace stress as arising “when the demands of the job and the working environment of a person exceeds their capacity to meet them”. Boards of Management could not guarantee to provide a stress free environment but are obliged to take reasonably practical steps to shield employees from exposure to stress and from the consequences of unreasonably stressful working conditions. To this end Principals and Boards of Management should include workplace stress as an issue in carrying out regular hazard audits.
ACCS has an agreed “Code of Practice for Dealing with Complaints of Bullying and Harassment of Staff in Community/Comprehensive Schools” and a “Code of Practice for Dealing with Complaints of Sexual Harassment of Staff in Community/Comprehensive Schools”. These codes of practice are agreed with the ASTI, TUI and IMPACT trade unions and should be made known and accessible to all members of staff.
Further procedures in relation to bullying/harassment of staff by pupils and of pupils by staff are in course of preparation.