One of the occupational health and safety (OHS) issues that does not “travel” well across international borders is workplace bullying. Each country usually has its own laws (if at all). Each operates in a different culture and each has a different definition of what constitutes workplace bullying. Those who communicate and publish information on this hazard need to be sure that an article is relevant to its readership or at least clearly indicate the article’s overseas origin.
On 28 May 2014 the Australian Financial Review (AFR) published a US article on workplace bullying that was first published in the Washington Post in March 2014 that purports to discuss workplace bullying but, to the Australian readership, the article describes bad management practices and poor work behaviour, NOT workplace bullying.