Analysis of preliminary results of a TUI survey on bullying in the workplace, released to this week, says "there is no room for complacency." The full results will be published in June, according to Billy Fitzpatrick, research and education officer with the union. Dr Mona O'Moore, of the Anti-Bullying Centre Research and Resource Unit at TCD, is carrying out the survey. She writes: "In view of the adverse effects on the victims' health, family relationships and ability to work, it is imperative that preventative and rehabilitative measures are introduced or strengthened."

About one in five members are possibly at risk of bullying at work and one in 20 members may be at risk of frequent bullying. The data shows that 40 per cent of victims suffered health problems.

The survey, carried out in the last week of February and the first week of March, involved 1,000 random TUI members from all the representative educational sectors in the union. A summary of the preliminary results based on the first 287 returned questionnaires was launched at the recent TUI annual conference in Dublin.

In her analysis, O'Moore says that, of respondents who had been bullied in their present job, 71 per cent reported that they were somewhat affected and 16 per cent stated that they had been seriously affected.

"Men and women are at equal risk of being bullied," she says. "However, the data indicates that men tend to bully more than women. The mean length of time that victims have been subjected to bullying was 3.2 years."

According to Fitzpatrick, the TUI is fully committed to pursuing the bullying issue. After publication of the entire results in June, union president Joe Carolan plans to publish a policy document and will lobby for legislative change, including an ammendment to the current Employment Equality Act does not address the issue.

At the moment, it's "hit and miss" whether schools, colleges and third-level institutes have any code of practice in regard to bullying, says Fitzpatrick. O'Moore recommends that schools and colleges develop policies and procedures to deal with bullying and harassment. On a positive note, nearly two-thirds of the respondents in the study said their work climate was "friendly" - and over half report that staff relations are "very good for most of the time." A very large majority, 93 per cent, found their work "interesting."