Violence in the workplace has become an issue for employees and unions. Although workplace violence is receiving increased attention in the media, the incidents that make the news are only the tip of the iceberg.
- According to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), some 2 million American workers are victims of workplace violence each year. In 2000, 13,935 women had injuries or illnesses involving days away from work that resulted from assaults and violent acts (Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS]).
- Homicide is the second-leading cause of fatal occupational injuries for women, after traffic accidents. Thirty-one percent of women who die at work are killed as a result of an assault or violent act. In 2001, 145 women died as a result of an assault or violent act in the workplace (BLS).
- Fifteen percent of all female violent crimes were committed while the victim was working or on duty. These acts of nonfatal violence include rape and sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault and simple assault (BLS).
- Approximately 36,500 rapes and sexual assaults occur annually in the workplace. In 80 percent of these incidents, the victim was female (NCVS).
- Nurses experience workplace crime at a rate 72 percent higher than medical technicians and at more than twice the rate of other medical fieldworkers (NCVS).
- Professional (social worker/psychiatrist) and custodial care providers in the mental health care field were victimized while working or on duty at rates more than three times those in the medical field (NCVS).
- Junior high school teachers have a rate of victimization in the workplace similar to convenience store clerks—54.2 versus 53.9 per 1,000 workers (NCVS).
The data on workplace violence is scattered and inadequate to understand the extent of the problem. Many acts of nonfatal violence and threats in the workplace go unreported because there is no coordinated data-collection system to process the information. More than 936,000 of the nearly 2 million workplace crimes committed yearly were not reported to the police. Rape and sexual assaults were reported to the police at an even lower rate of 24 percent.
Most incidents of violence fall into four categories:
Four Types of Workplace Violence
- Violence committed by clients or patients
This category includes customers, clients, patients, students and inmates. These incidents occur largely in the health care industry, such as nursing homes or psychiatric facilities, where the victims are often patient caregivers. Police officers, prison staff, flight attendants and teachers also are examples of workers who may be exposed to this type of violence.
- Violence associated with robbery or other crimes
The perpetrator has no legitimate relationship to the business or its employees. Convenience store clerks, taxi drivers, security guards and “mom and pop” store employees are exposed to this type of violence.
- Violence among co-workers or managers
The perpetrator is an employee or former employee of the business who attacks or threatens another employee in the workplace. Although this type of violence accounts for about 7 percent of all workplace homicides, these incidents receive intense media coverage.
- Domestic violence that spills over into the workplace
The perpetrator usually does not have a relationship with the business but has a personal relationship with the intended victim. The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that husbands and boyfriends commit 13,000 acts of violence against women in the workplace every year.
Prevention
There are three general approaches to preventing workplace violence:
Environmental: Adjusting lighting, entrances and exits, security hardware, panic alarms, closed circuit TV cameras, mobile phones for field personnel and other engineering controls to discourage would-be assailants;
Organizational/administrative: Developing programs, policies, work practices and training aimed at maintaining a safe working environment, including additional staffing, a ban on working alone, recording accidents, verbal abuse and “near misses”;
Behavioral/interpersonal: Training staff to anticipate, recognize and respond to conflict and potential violence in the workplace.
Taking Action, Preventing Violence
It is the employer’s responsibility to maintain a safe workplace free of violence. Supervisors should not assume violence is just “part of the job” and that workers shouldn’t complain.
Work with your union. If you experience workplace violence and are represented by a union, talk to your union representative. Urge other members to document all assault incidents, close calls and abusive behavior. Union representatives should discuss the violence with management, using the records, and develop a plan to prevent future workplace violence. If management refuses to respond, the union should take action: file grievances, develop contract language, build coalitions or go to the media. Unions also can help address workplace violence by educating their members on violence prevention measure and ensuring full reporting and documentation of incidences.
Unions have been pushing for the recognition of workplace violence as an occupational issue, not just a criminal justice issue, and support voluntary implementation of workplace violence prevention programs. In addition, unions have supported provisions in state legislations and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations addressing workplace violence.
Contact OSHA. Although there is no OSHA standard designed to protect workers from violence, OSHA has cited employers under the General Duty Clause, which requires employers to provide a safe workplace. In order to sustain a general duty clause violation, OSHA must prove the existence of a hazard, which is recognized and causes or is likely to cause death or serious physical harm, and the existence of a feasible and effective method to abate the hazard.
Laws and Regulations
At the federal level: There are no national legislation or federal regulations that specifically address the prevention of workplace violence. OSHA has published voluntary guidelines for workers in late-night retail, health care and taxicab businesses, but employers are not obligated legally to follow these guidelines.
At the state level: A few states have passed legislation or regulations aimed at reducing workplace violence in certain industries.
California and Washington State have enacted regulations aimed at reducing patient-employee violence in health care worksites.
Florida, Virginia and Washington State have laws or regulations intending to prevent robbery–related homicides in late-night retail establishments like convenience stores.
In California and Washington State, state OSHA regulations require safety programs in all workplaces that include the prevention of “reasonable foreseeable” assault on employees.
Sources: AFSCME, Preventing Workplace Violence; University of Iowa, Workplace Violence: A Report to the Nation; and Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics Violence in the Workplace, 1993–1999.
Workplace Violence Resources
Union Resources
Government Resources
Other Resources
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Nurse Advocate, (a private, nurse-sponsored organization formed to prevent workplace violence against nurses).
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Workplace Violence Research Institute (formed in 1992, the Institute provides workplace violence prevention programs and conducts research to identify occupational risks and effective violence prevention solutions).
