Occupational Violence

We read about occupational violence in the news. Women killed by coworkers seemingly out of the blue. Did they experience some warning signs? In some cases we may never know. Women need to know able this for their own self defense.

When we’re at work we often put up with other people’s behavior that we would not tolerate in another setting. Sometimes the job itself is barely tolerable, but you need the money so you keep your mouth shut and count down the time until we can go home at the end of the day.

There are laws against occupational violence in the United States. Of course some jobs come with a certain amount of risk (police officer, stunt-woman) and hopefully those risks are clearly spelled out before anyone accepts employment, but those risks should not be caused by fellow coworkers.

Occupational violence is defined as any incident where a worker is physically attacked or threatened in the workplace or during work activities.

A threat is a verbal statement or behavior that causes a reasonable person to believe they are in danger of being physically attacked.

A physical attack is the direct or indirect application of force by a person to the body of, or to clothing or equipment worn by another person where that application creates a risk to health and safety.

A risk management plan should be a action- even before it is needed. The Human Resources department should be brought in to handle the problem. A complete written record of the disciplinary encounters should be kept along with a signature of the subject of investigation.

A list of behaviors that will not be tolerated should be maintained and updated as needed. Some of the behaviors should be grounds for termination.

Many problems can be nipped in the bud before they begin if prospective employees are properly screened before hiring. References should be called as well as prior employers. Watch for any false information on the application. Would the prior employer rehire him? Does he have a police record for violence?

If an employee must be fired for potential occupational violence it must be done carefully; the sooner the better or he will think his actions are acceptable.

During the process he must be treated with respect and not humiliated- although it also the reason needs to be clear. Unfortunately if he perceives that he is being treated unfairly he may return to cause harm- probably with a gun, or two.

Of course working from home can solve most of these issues!

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