Workplace Violence — It's Everybody's Business

by Kimberly R. Lusk, JD

The burden of workplace violence is not assumed by only the victims of the violence, but also by their co-workers, families, and employers.  Workplace violence is much more than well-publicized fatalities; it includes such things as threats, non-fatal injuries, lost work productivity, legal liability, economic impact on businesses, and other costs.

Statistics dealing with workplace violence are sporadic and sketchy at best.  The most accurate data deals with fatal events, but according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, an average of 1.7 million people were victims of violent crimes while working or on duty in the United States each year from 1993 through 1999.  An estimated 1.3 million (75%) of these incidents were simple assaults, while 19% were aggravated assaults.  For the same time period, over 800 workplace homicides per year were recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. 

Workplace violence is commonly broken down into four general incident categories: pure criminal intent incidents; client/customer perpetrated incidents; employee-to-employee incidents; and personal relationship incidents. 

Pure criminal intent incidents generally include a primary motive (i.e. theft) in which a deadly weapon is often involved.  This type of incident most often affects workers dealing with cash, working late hours and/or working alone.

Client/customer perpetrated incidents generally occur where a client/customer of an employee acts violently in conjunction with an employee’s normal duties.  This most often affects people working specific fields such as teachers, public transportation operators, social workers, and law enforcement officers.

Worker-to-worker incidents generally stem from one or more interpersonal or work-related disputes, and account for 7% of all workplace homicides.  These types of incidents equally affect all industries and occupations; however managers and supervisors may be at greater risk due to the nature of the occurrences.

Personal relationship incidents generally occur in conjunction with domestic violence, where either the victim or the perpetrator is an employee of the organization.  The effects of domestic violence on the workplace are as vast as they are varied; including absenteeism, low productivity, and violence occurring at the place of employment of the victim.  Employers also need to be aware that perpetrators of domestic violence may use business telephones, fax machines, email and the like to perpetrate violence upon their victim.

Legal Guidelines
When incidents of workplace violence occur, employers often find themselves in a tenuous position to deal appropriately with the incident without over- or under-reaction, or reacting in any way that may exacerbate the situation.  In particular, many businesses are literally frozen into inaction due to fear of legal implications of doing something wrong.  However, this is the worst possible position for a business, as the lack of doing anything generally does exacerbate the situation.

There are currently no federal laws dealing with workplace violence.  The OSHA General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1),  merely requires employers to “furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.”  Section 5(a)(2) only adds the requirement that employers “comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under this Act.”  OSHA has published voluntary guidelines for workers in late-night retail, health care, and taxicab drivers.  However, these are merely guidelines and employers are not legally obligated to follow them.

Where should a business turn to for guidelines on how to prepare and respond appropriately to incidents of workplace violence?  With the lack of federal legislation, several states have passed legislation or enacted regulations dealing with workplace violence.  Twenty-four states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have compiled OSHA-approved state plans and have adopted their own standards and enforcement policies.  Most of these plans are merely adoptions of the Federal OSHA standards.  However, some states have adopted more stringent standards and enforcement policies.  For instance, both California and Washington have enacted regulations aimed at reducing patient-employee violence in health-care settings, and Florida, Virginia and Washington have enacted laws or regulations aimed at preventing robbery-related homicides.

Contingency Planning
Although nothing can guarantee that an employee will not be a victim of workplace violence, businesses should put their efforts into three distinct areas: prevention, response, and follow-up. 

Prevention occurs in three general areas. 1. Environmental, by adjusting lighting, entrances/exits, security, hardware, and other engineering controls to discourage would-be perpetrators. 2. Organizational, by developing programs, policies and work practices aimed at maintaining a safe work environment. 3. Behavioral, by training staff to anticipate, recognize and respond to conflict and potential violence in the workplace.

Response plans are necessary, flexible and focused.  Businesses need to be prepared to respond to the varying types of workplace violence incidents by: identifying who needs assistance, including co-workers and family members of the victimized employee; determining what type of assistance is needed; recognizing when assistance will be most beneficial; and determining resources needed to provide the appropriate interventions at the right time.

Follow-up occurs after the crisis is over and business has resumed to normal.   It is imperative that any workplace violence preparedness plan include follow-up with the workforce to assess whether employees returning to work are safe, physically and mentally healthy, and productive and to ensure satisfaction with, and effectiveness of, services provided. 

In a time of crisis, including those that are perpetuated by workplace violence, the perception of support and responsiveness of the business, regardless of the particular intervention offered, plays a central role in returning to “business as normal.”  Workers return to a high level of productivity more frequently and more quickly when they are supported in a competent and compassionate manner. 

Employers utilize a variety of methods to increase the safety of their employees.  The manner which will work best for your organization is dependent upon your industry, the populations you serve, your management, your employees, your workplace location(s), and the relationship of your business within the community.  As you can see, workplace violence is everybody’s business.