Workplace Harassment is a growing concern for many people, particularly since the number of people that have been victimized by verbal and physical advances in the workplace continues to grow unabated. Unfortunately, there are not enough formal complaints filed with the proper authorities to gauge just how prevalent this problem is and the only way to truly know is to get a WHS incident investigation started. The first thing that a workplace harassment investigator will do is to interview all people who might have witnessed the incident. This includes anyone who may have heard the alleged victim say anything, as well as anyone who may have seen the alleged perpetrator to commit the alleged offenses. All people will be interviewed separately, and then all evidence collected from each will be analyzed and weighed in order to develop a personalized incident investigation plan.
Why you do Conducting an WHS Incident Investigation
Once the interviews have been conducted, the investigators will then put together a written report. The written report is the keystone of any successful WHS incident investigation plan and is reviewed by a senior manager. The investigator will utilize all of the information that is gathered in the investigation and will compose an individualized case report that is based on all of the information gathered. A person will be asked to fill out a confidentiality agreement, which states that the person will not disclose the contents of the case report to any third parties, including third party personnel, other employees, or any other personnel. Any action that must be taken to further the investigation will also be documented in the incident report.
The incident report is then submitted to the appropriate legislative committees, which will look into it and determine whether or not further action should be taken. It is important to keep in mind that although WHS resolutions are recommended in a majority of cases, not all resolutions are created equal. Therefore, it is always important to conduct additional investigations into any sexual harassment incidents that were brought to light within your company. If no laws were broken, and the employee was either the victim of gender or racial discrimination, the matter may be left up to the courts.