How to prevent aggression in the workplace
- Amber Kuipers
- Edited 3 June 2026
- 3 min
- Managing and growing
- Staff
One in 6 workers experiences aggression and violence in the workplace. As an employer, you are responsible for a safe working environment. It is important to address inappropriate behaviour at an early stage. Find out what measures you can take to prevent aggression among colleagues and managers.
Inappropriate behaviour, such as aggression, violence, threats, and bullying, leads to health (in Dutch) such as anxiety, mental health issues, and sleep disorders. “This is unpleasant for your staff and costs you money as an employer. For example, because of higher absenteeism and lower labour productivity”, says Sheila Peeters, staff company social worker and confidential advisor at ArboNed. With an anti-aggression policy, you can prevent conflicts in the workplace. We explain how to create such a policy.
Identify risks
The Working Conditions Act (Arbowet) classifies aggression, violence, threats, and bullying in the workplace as psychosocial . This includes both physical aggression, such as kicking and hitting, and verbal aggression, such as making threats, discriminating against others, or using abusive language. Protect your employees and ensure a safe working environment. Under the (in Dutch), you are obliged to draw up a policy against aggression and other undesirable behaviour by your employees. You should therefore properly identify the risks through a risk inventory and evaluation (RI&E). This will give you insight into the main causes of aggression, such as excessive work pressure. It will also help you identify where risks arise and what measures are needed more quickly.
Action plan
The next step of your RI&E is an action (in Dutch) for social safety in the workplace. The plan sets out measures you use to prevent aggression and violence. For example, you agree that employees must treat each other respectfully and that aggression is never allowed. And you note down what has been agreed regarding penalties for breaking these rules. All the rules should be set out in a code of conduct. This (in Dutch) from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment will help you draw up a code of conduct for your business.
Testing safety in the workplace
If you have more than 25 employees you must then have the inventory and action plan reviewed by an occupational health and safety expert.
Implementation
Finally, you implement your action plan. In doing so, note the points below.
Communicate
Make sure your employees are aware of your company’s code of conduct. Discuss it at work meetings and during performance appraisals. Include the code of conduct in the employee handbook. This is an overview of all agreements with your employees, covering such topics as working hours, leave, and sick . Make it clear that breaking rules will result in sanctions such as suspension, an official warning or, in serious cases, .
Show exemplary behaviour
Create an open culture in which employees hold each other accountable for inappropriate behaviour. (in Dutch) have an important role here. “Managers need to show exemplary behaviour. They must also establish clear frameworks and intervene in incidents where someone threatens someone else or curses at them”, Peeters explains.
Signal in time
Spot tensions between your employees in time and prevent them from getting out of hand. According to Peeters, tensions in the workplace often arise from excessive work pressure. “As a result, employees become stressed, and that leads quite quickly to conflicts, especially if someone has a short fuse. So discuss the workload regularly with your staff. See how things can be done better, and resolve the bottlenecks. This makes for less stress and greater job satisfaction.”
Prevent or solve conflicts
Conflicts in the workplace also arise because employees become dissatisfied. For example, because an employee does not feel taken seriously. Peeters recounts an argument at a garage: “A mechanic was supposed to put a quality tick on the work he had done. His foreman told him to also tick off the work done by his colleague, who had forgotten. The mechanic did not want to tick off that work, because he did not have time to check the work himself. He had been criticised several times by the same foreman for work he had not done himself. The foreman called him out on his performance because he was not willing to tick off work his colleagues had done. The mechanic had a problem both with this issue itself and with the way the foreman communicated. The way he sees it, the foreman bosses him about and does not listen to him. The mechanic feels he is not taken seriously, comes into conflict with the foreman, and calls in sick.”
Go for mediation
The argument between the mechanic and his supervisor has since been resolved, Peeters says: “The company manager, the foreman, and the mechanic started talking with each other. Because the mechanic feels heard and because both he and the foreman are involved in the solutions, the tension between them has been resolved.”
Appoint a confidential adviser
A confidential adviser can be contacted by employees who have reports or complaints about inappropriate behaviour. They can also refer them, for instance, to a counselling agency such as a mediation . You can appoint one of your own employees as a confidential adviser, or opt for an outside (in Dutch), for example through your health and safety service or trade association.
Record aggression
Record all complaints of workplace aggression and violence. This will give insights into the extent and severity of aggression and violence within your company. Analysing incidents is part of the RI&E. This allows you to see whether your policies are working, or whether they need adjusting.