HAMILTON, ON (May 15, 2006) - The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) released a trio of e-courses that focus on preventing violence in the workplace. Workplace violence is violence or the threat of violence against workers. It can occur in or outside the workplace and can range from harassment, threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and even homicide. Whatever form it takes, workplace violence is a serious issue that affects all business sectors and occupations and the safety and security of every employee and employer. CCOHS has developed three new e-courses to help increase awareness, suggest preventive measures and provide information to help develop a workplace violence prevention program.

Violence in the Workplace: Awareness
This fifteen minute course, offered free of charge, helps promote awareness of this important issue and serves as a introduction to the other CCOHS Workplace Violence e-courses.

Recognize the Risk and Take Action
Designed for frontline supervisors and workers, the course describes what workplace violence is, the consequences of workplace violence and preventive measures that can be taken. It takes approximately one hour to complete the course.

Establish a Prevention Program
The course introduces managers, supervisors and employees to the key components of an effective workplace violence prevention program. It provides the knowledge and tools they need to eliminate or minimize the potential for workplace violence by developing a prevention program for their organization. The course takes approximately 90 minutes to complete.