Category: suicide

Australian MP mentions workplace bullying but is short on practical controls

On 18 March 2010, the last sitting day of that session of Australia’s Parliament, Labor Member of Parliament , Bill Shorten, spoke about workplace bullying and the OHS prosecutions that stemmed from the bullying and suicide of Brodie Panlock.  Some of his short speech rehashed details of the workplace bullying prosecutions but, according to the draft of Hansard (page 93), Shorten made some useful remarks:

“I rise to speak on the issue of workplace bullying.  We would not think it was acceptable for people to come to work and be exposed to asbestos or toxic chemicals.  We should not think, therefore, that it is appropriate for them to be exposed to the toxic behaviour that is sustained and malicious bullying.  I believe that this kind of bullying is something which can be eradicated.  We have changed attitudes on smoking in the workplace and on sexual harassment; there is no reason why we cannot eliminate forever bullying in the workplace.

Bullying is an absence of kindness and Continue reading “Australian MP mentions workplace bullying but is short on practical controls”

Workplace bullying and restorative justice – how to help the families left behind

A feature article on workplace bullying in The Age newspaper on 10 March 2010 has the additional or secondary benefit of again raising the relevance of “restorative justice” to the issue of occupational safety and health.

The main element of the article is the McGregor family who had two children commit suicide over related issues.  The son, Stuart McGregor,  described as being chronically depressed, was being bullied at work.  He confided in his sister, Angela McGregor, over the issues.  Angela had been bullied at school.  Alannah killed herself.  A month later, Stuart followed.

WorkSafe investigated the bullying at Stuart’s place of work, substantiated Stuart’s claims are is determining what further action to take.  The newspaper reports that there may be insufficient evidence to pursue the case through the Courts.

What the reporter, Helen Westerman, does is to relate the grief and hurt of the parents to the potential benefits of the application of “restorative justice” in workplace incidents.   Continue reading “Workplace bullying and restorative justice – how to help the families left behind”

Some families in South Australia blame WorkCover for their partners’ suicides

In January 2010, Today Tonight in South Australia aired a disturbing report about the workers compensation reforms in that State.  It talks to two widows who blame WorkCover SA as contributing to their husbands’ suicides.  One man left a suicide note explicitly blaming WorkCover SA, emphasising his point by jumping to his death from the sixth floor of the WorkCover office building.

The video report is available HERE under the title WorkCover Suicide.

One of those interviewed in the story is Kevin Purse who undertook a report into the SA workers’ compensation system on behalf of SA Unions.   Continue reading “Some families in South Australia blame WorkCover for their partners’ suicides”

Work-related suicides in Europe

The Irish Times has reported on a speech made by Dr Jukka Takala, Director of EU-OSHA, in Spain in November 2009.

“[Dr Takala] said since the publication of a recent study showing a very high level of work-related suicides by French Telecom workers, there was an urgency about getting this information. “Personally, I favour a system such as they have in Japan where the families are compensated for the suicide of a relative, and the debate has already started in this organisation and in the commission and some of the member states,…”

It is not uncommon in OHS to hear calls for further research and more research on work-related suicide is definitely needed.  (Australia has some very good work in this area.)

Caution has to be voiced on the risk that suicides be seen as the mental health version of workplace fatalities.  Research and OHS statistics often focuses on fatalities for various reasons including that the statistics are easy to quantify.  If a worker dies from being crushed by a machine, its a workplace fatality.  There is a trap in terms of suicides where the cause and effect is not so clear, or mechanical.

Only recently have workplace fatalities begun to be investigated with consideration of the social or non-work contributing factors.  If the machine operator was pulled into the machine because they were inattentive, why were they inattentive?  In terms of suicides, the agency of injury will be fairly obvious but the contributory factors could be far more complex.  And if the suicide victim has not left a note explaining the reasons for their action, it is even harder to determine “cause”.

Looking at suicides runs the risk of  not paying enough attention to the mental health issues that have not reached the suicide level.  The focus should not be researching suicides but researching the combination of issues leading to suicide.  It is a much greater challenge but is likely to have more long term benefits.

Takala’s comments about family compensation and the need to acknowledge the reality of work-related suicides gained the attention of The Irish Times because they meet the imperatives for a newsworthy angle.  Takal’s speeches at the Healthy Workplaces European Summit 2009 covered much greater territory than the Irish Times article and should be read to better understand the comment’s context.

There are hundreds of work risks that require assessment and psychosocial hazards is one of those areas.  A full list of speakers at the conference is available by looking at the program.  Abstracts of most presentations are available for download.

Kevin Jones

France Telecome becoming a case study

The managerial turmoil at France Telecome over a spate of work-related suicides is likely to become a case study in failed change management, firstly, and public relations, secondly.

A report in The Guardian on 6 October 2009, points to a (French) video of the company’s chairman and CEO, Didier Lombard, speaking to Telecome’s managers in January 2009.  The paper reports that Lombard says

“those who think they can just stick to their routine and not worry about a thing are sorely mistaken”.

The article goes on to say

“He went on to suggest that staff outside Paris spent their time at the beach, fishing for mussels, adding those days were “over”.”

The last quote sounds like a joke between colleagues but as suicides had already occurred at the time of this speech, it was in poor taste even then.

For those outside of France, Lombard was set on the path of making the company relevant to contemporary ICT needs.  A short article from 2005 says

“France Telecom Chief Executive Didier Lombard is merging telephone, Internet and mobile offerings under the Orange brand as part of a three-year program called NExT, an acronym for New Experience in Telecom services.”

There are similarities with a range of telecommunications companies that needed to change – British Telecom, New Zealand Telecom and Telstra to name a few.  Telstra’s management change earlier this century with Sol Trujillo and Phil Burgess caused considerable shareholder and political turmoil with their change strategies.

Organisational change from administrative agencies to commercial entities can be a life challenge but it can be done with time and careful planning.  The suicides at France Telecome seem to be an extreme example of how this process can be mishandled.  However, just as with cancer clusters, the actual cause is often difficult to identify and sometimes can remain a mystery or coincidence.  The circumstances at France Telecome need to be carefully studied from when the change management process began, well before the first suicide.

At the moment we are in the period of shock and panic responses by the company.  Every suicide heightens this panic.  Hopefully the measures being put in place now by the company will achieve a more considered, and long-lasting, corporate result.

Kevin Jones

Executive resigns over work-related suicides

According to various media reports, a senior executive of France Telecome has resigned due to the mismanagement of the organisational restructure of the company which has been happening for almost two years and that, some say, has led to suicides.

One report says:

“France Telecom’s deputy chief executive Louis-Piere Wenes had faced calls to resign from employees who say management policies are responsible for the firm’s so called “spiral of death”.”

A UK newspaper includes a quote from M. Wenes:

“Despite the hard edge of the technological and economic fight, especially in our business, nothing can justify men and women putting an end to their lives. Today, like before, I cannot accept it.”

France Telecome’s media statement reads:

“Louis-Pierre Wenes, the current Deputy CEO in charge of Operations in France, has asked Didier Lombard, Chairman and CEO of France Telecom, to relieve him of his responsibilities. Didier Lombard has accepted this request and thanks Louis-Pierre for all that he has accomplished since December 2002 and for the significant contribution that he has made to the turnaround and the performance of the Group.

As of today, Stephane Richard is appointed Deputy CEO in charge of Operations in France.”

UPDATE: 7 October 2009

Additional information and links available HERE

23rd suicide at France Telecome in 18 months

Adam Sage has been following the suicides that have occurred in France Telecome for some time.  On 23 September 2009 in the TimesOnline (a week later in The Australian newspaper??), Sage provides a useful summary and cogitation on the “cluster”.

But although this number of suicides in one company should be alarming, it is not really a cluster as the suicide rate for Telecome’s employees was only slightly above the national average of 14.7 per 100,000 people.  Sage reports that France is a country with a high comparative suicide rate.  The relevance to SafetyAtWorkBlog is that Sage goes on to identify work-related factors that contribute to suicides.

He quotes a sociology professor who says the French “define themselves by their professions”.  The risk with this basis for identity is always when the demand for the profession declines, one needs to redefine and this is not easy.

Sage finds a psychoanalyst who says that his patients feel isolated at work and have no support mechanisms.

A suicide prevention expert says that often a problem at home is the suicide trigger with someone who is feeling stressed at work.

Sage provides a potted history of the privatisation of France Telecome and speaks to a current employee bemoans the loss of camaraderie.

What is surprising about this article is that it seems France, and particularly France Telecome, are way behind other Western nations in having control measures in place for employee support programs and change management.

It is not as if France is ignorant of workplace stress issues or that workplace suicides have only occurred at France Telecome.  A major reason for its experiment with the 35-hour week was to

“…to take advantage of improvements in productivity of modern society to give workers some more personal time to enhance quality of life.”

In January 2008 (well before the current financial crises), the Institute for Economic and Social Research published “Workplace suicides highlight issue of rising stress levels at work “.  After some suicides at Renault and Peugeot it assessed the issues, acknowledged the trade union assertion that

“…excessive isolation of workers due to high workloads and fierce competition leads to a malaise in companies and thus call for a reflection on choices of work organisation.”

The article also reported

“The French Democratic Confederation of Labour (Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT) welcomed the ‘recognition of psychological factors being the cause of an occupational accident’ as it ‘opens the way to taking into account a form of suffering and malaise that, until now, has been minimised by companies’.”

A longer-lasting improvement will only come if this recognition is built on by all social structures in France.  Perhaps it should look across the channel at how the Health & Safety Executive and the corporate sector have responded to the report by Dame Carol Black – “Working for Health” – calling for an integrated approach to health management involving work, public health, health promotion and other elements of social capital.

France Telecome held an extraordinary Board meeting on 15 September concerning its suicide rate.  It made the following commitments:

  • “The national health, safety and working conditions committee (CNSHSCT) will be meeting on Thursday next week in the presence of Jean-Denis Combrexelle, the Ministry’s Director General for Employment.
  • To stop the phenomenon from spreading, it has been decided to immediately put in place a freephone number to promote dialogue. Psychologists from outside the company will be available to listen to and talk with any employees who may be having difficulties.
  • The first meeting for the negotiations on stress will be taking place on Friday September 18. On this occasion, the employee representatives will appoint an external consultancy to conduct an audit of the situation within France Telecom.
  • These negotiations will focus on the prevention of stress and psychosocial risks in the event of geographical or professional mobility among staff. To address this issue, a forward-looking employment and skills management (GPEC) system will be set-up with a view to offering employees and their direct managers visibility over their professional development and support.”

Didier Lombard, France Telecom’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, has set a tight timeframe for improvement.  On 15 September 2009 Lombard said

“December’s France Telecom will not be the France Telecom of today.”

Kevin Jones

UPDATE 30 SEPTEMBER 2009

Agence France Presse has reported a 24th suicide associated with France Telecom.  According to the report the 51-year-old male jumped to his death from an overpass onto a busy highway.  His suicide note to his wife expressly referred to the work environment as a reason for his action.

 

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