September 6, 2002—An on-going study of internal workplace violence revealed that fatal attacks in the workplace have continued at a steady rate despite the renewed sense of security awareness brought about by the response to the terrorist attacks of September 11th.
The study focused on violence perpetrated by employees, former employees, clients and other categories of invitees. Since September 11th, 18 separate workplace violence incidents have occurred across the nation resulting in the deaths of 34 people and the wounding of 23.
The 280-case sampling of internal workplace violence incidents revealed certain characteristics about this form of violence. The perpetrators were men 94.3% of the time while women numbered only 5.7%. The overwhelming number of perpetrators were between the ages of 35-45, most having significant tenure on the job. In some cases the parties knew each other for years. The case studies pointed out that specific victims were singled out targeted.
According to the study, several organizational factors have contributed to the acts of violence in the workplace, including:
- A weak or non-existent policy against all forms of violence within the organization;
- Inadequate employee acquisition, supervision and retention practices;
- Inadequate training on violence prevention at all levels;
- No clearly defined rules of conduct;
- Failure to introduce employees to anti-violence policies and prevention strategies;
- Inability of managers and—supervisors to adequately assess threats;
- A non-existent or weak mechanism for reporting violent or threatening behavior;
- Failure to take immediate action against those who have threatened or committed acts of violence.
The study was conducted by Larry J. Chavez, B.A., M.P.A., researcher on workplace violence prevention. His “10-Point Threat Assessment Model” and his “5-Point Competency Model for Supervisors” have been used to train managers and supervisors on violence prevention. For more information, contact workplace-violence.com.
