Up to 100 of the more than 431 people who died by suicide last year may have done because of workplace bullying, it was claimed today.
The organisers of a national conference, "Workplace Bullying: Implementing Best Practice", to be held in Dublin on November 9th, told reporters the impact of bullying in work has a devastating impact.
Dr Mark Harrold, a clinical psychologist, said that research suggested that as many as one in 30 employees is a social bully.
He said a workplace bully can create havoc and do tremendous damage to the organisation. He said the bully often has a split personality: charming in some circumstances and "lethal" in others. He or she is also often an accomplished liar, Dr Harrold said.
The workplace bully is also often in senior positions and is regularly feted by management as a "person who gets the job done", Dr Harrold said.
He said for every one person who attempted suicide in relation to a workplace incident there were tens of others suffering similar difficulties.
The targets of workplace bullies are often the most hardworking, popular and conscientious staff members who cannot understand why this is happening.
Another target of workplace bullying is the 50-year-old executive whose working conditions are made so intolerable that they leave, allowing the company to replace them with a younger individual.