The Work Environment Authority has analyzed reports of serious incidents due to threats or violence at work between 2013 and 2023. The authority notes in a report to the government that the development is more dramatic in schools than in other workplaces. The reports have indeed increased by 40 percent.
It may be that an increased willingness to report incidents in schools is behind the sharp increase. But what suggests that the situation has actually deteriorated is that the number of work-related injuries linked to violence and threats and resulting in sick leave has increased by 20 percent in schools. In contrast, a decrease is seen in other workplaces, according to the Work Environment Authority.
Almost eight out of ten reports are made in primary school, and in more than eight out of ten cases, it is a student – not an outsider – who has been violent or threatening. In more than eight out of ten cases, it is school staff who are exposed.
The most vulnerable, in terms of sick leave, are student support staff, student and teacher assistants. A typical situation is when a student becomes angry or upset and acts out in everyday work, and tears, bites, pushes, hits, or kicks the adult.
The Work Environment Authority proposes in its report mandatory work environment training for school principals and headmasters, as well as giving student health care explicit responsibility in systematic work environment work.
Reported serious incidents at work caused by threats and violence:
Schools, 2013–2023: from 478 to 1,203, an increase of 152 percent
Other industries, 2013–2023: from 2,410 to 3,374, an increase of 40 percent
Work-related injuries with sick leave caused by threats and violence:
Schools, 2013–2023: from 420 to 513, an increase of 22 percent
Other industries, 2013–2023: from 1,807 to 1,755, a decrease of 3 percent.
Source: Work Environment Authority, report 2024/010802
