10th EWHN Conference for labour & occupational health and safety representatives and professionals
“Workers finding a voice in a new Europe"
Friday September 29th to Sunday October 1st 2006, 
Baltic Beach Hotel, Majori, Jurmula, 
Latvia

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10^th European Work Hazards Network Conference 2006

29^th September – 1^st October 2006; Baltic Beach Hotel, Jurmala, Latvia

Topic Workshop 6: Mobbing, Bullying and Harassment

Facilitated by Graziano Frigeri, Italy

Workshop outline

Introduction

The issues of violence and harassment in the workplace have aroused considerable interest across Europe in recent years. There remains, however, a great disparity between awareness and recognition of the problem in the different European countries. The real extent of the problem remains unknown, but findings surveys on working conditions suggest that the problem affects a substantial part of the workforce in Member States.

Key findings

• Although aspects of psychological violence correspond to a plethora of various terms and labels in different EU countries, such as ‘bullying’, ‘mobbing’ and ‘harassment’, there is growing agreement that they share many characteristics and that the psychological processes involved and their respective outcomes are similar.

• Sexual and racial harassment are increasingly acknowledged as forms of violence and an affront to dignity in their own right.

• Both men and women experience violence, although women appear to be more vulnerable than men. To a certain extent, this reflects a segregated labour market in which women are often concentrated in high-risk jobs and occupations with respect to violence and harassment – nursing, social work and teaching being prime examples.

Workshop’s tasks

1. Evaluate and estimate the impact of the problem at European level

2. How to recognise and identify mobbing, bullying and harassment at workplace

3. How to recognise mobbing, bullying and harassment as Company strategies particularly at multinational level

4. Establishing a network among European Workers, TU and Expert to:

   1. jointly identify and face the problem, including action at Governments’ and Commission level

   2. act as “help centre” for Workers, Organisations and Groups at European Level

   3. indicate struggle strategies against the phenomenon

   4. indicate strategy for counselling, care and compensation

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