This White Paper summarizes the results of a joint survey project on current programs and policies to prevent and mitigate workplace violence. Members of the Risk and Insurance Management Society and the Risk Management/Insurance Division of the American Society of Safety Engineers were surveyed in the Fall of 1998.
The responses found that about half of the organizations have implemented programs to address workplace violence by improved hiring techniques, security measures and no weapons policies. Most respondents, however, noted that they had not done a formal workplace violence risk assessment. We also found that most all believed there was insurance coverage for workplace violence incidents.
The White Paper identifies seventeen specific findings to assist risk managers and safety professionals in developing and implementing a workplace violence prevention and mitigation strategy.
Numerous surveys confirm the Bureau of Labor Statistics' report on the rising number of violence incidents in the workplace. The increase is due to a broadened definition of workplace violence that now includes homicides, physical attacks, rapes, aggravated and other assaults, threats, intimidations, coercion, all forms of harassment and any other act that creates a hostile work environment.
The costs of workplace violence are both financial and emotional. The Department of Justice found that 21,300 assaults and violent acts in the workplace resulted in days off from work. The National Safe Workplace Institute estimates that costs to employers in missed days of work and legal costs was $4.2 billion in 1992. Workplace violence incidents cause more than a financial toll. Employees witnessing violent acts in the workplace report increased levels of stress and lower morale, which may lead to decreased productivity and increased absenteeism and turnover.
The U.S. Department of Labor lists the occupations most at risk for murder as being taxicab drivers or chauffeurs, gas station attendants, retail clerks, police officers, and fast food and lodging services personnel.* Risk is determined by the number of workers killed in relationship to the number employed in the field. (This explains why postal workers, who get the most bad press but who number in the millions, do not appear on the list anywhere.)
Workplace violence is more than homicide. Harassment is the leading form of on the job workplace violence with 16 million workers being harassed each year. Other violent acts can include stalking, threats, inappropriate communication, trespassing, telephone and e-mail harassment, property defacing, invasion of privacy, and confining or restraining victims.
Employers have a general duty to "furnish to each employee, employment, and a place of employment that is free from recognized hazards that are causing, or likely to cause, death or serious harm to the employee" under federal and state OSHA regulations. Under the theory of respondeat superior, an employer is vicariously liable for any actions committed by its employees within the scope of their employment. That means the employer can be held liable even if it did nothing wrong.
