Bullies are no longer relegated to the playgrounds. They’re also in the workplace. Many organizations have bully issues, particularly in the ranks of management. Or they may unknowingly tolerate bullying behavior between employees.

Workplace bullying is defined as repeated, unreasonable, or inappropriate behavior directed toward an employee or a group of workers. The behavior can be overt (verbal abuse and criticism, harmful teasing, or mean-spirited jokes) or covert (overloading a person with work, deliberately denying access to information, setting unreasonable deadlines).

Such actions are intended to intimidate, degrade, offend, or humiliate workers, often in front of others. It creates feelings of defenselessness in the targeted employee and undermines his or her right to dignity at work.

Bullying also poses risks to health and safety. Unless addressed, it can become an accepted part of an organization’s culture. And that spells trouble for talent retention, employee productivity, customer confidence, and a company’s reputation at large.

Workplace bullying should be treated like any other hazard, with both prevention and intervention. Here are seven key ways to address the problem.

Create a zero-tolerance, anti-bullying policy. The policy should be part of a wider commitment to a safe and healthful working environment and should involve human resources.

Lead by example. Senior management team members should be viewed as positive role models and demonstrate strong leadership in response to bullying issues.

Promote awareness. Provide employee information and training through staff meetings, in newsletters, and as part of orientation packages.

Develop procedures for handling complaints and investigating incidents. Treat reports seriously and investigate them promptly, confidentially, and impartially.

Encourage open-door policies and reporting procedures. Workers should know the proper channels for reporting grievances, which should include access to independent contacts within the organization, such as HR representatives. Managers and supervisors must ensure that employees who file complaints or who witness incidents are not victimized.

Actively train managers and supervisors. Organizations should strive to improve management’s sensitivity toward bullying and its ability to respond to incidents.

Monitor policy effectiveness. Collect information to determine whether prevention is working. That can include attitude surveys and monitoring patterns in sick leave, staff turnover, and injury reports. There should also be ongoing analysis of reported bullying incidents to determine whether additional workplace training or information is needed.