HR Tips
Workplace Violence
Expanded Definition and Examples
Every June, during safety month, it’s important to look at factors that impact employee health and well-being on the job. One area that has been receiving more and more attention lately is that of workplace violence. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than 1.7 million U.S. workers are injured in workplace assaults each year. The Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that on average, 800 deaths each year are related to workplace violence. Overall, violence in the workplace accounts for 18% of all violent crime in the country.
Workplace Violence Defined
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), workplace violence is defined as: “violent acts, including physical assaults, directed toward persons at work or on duty.” The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety defines it as any act in which a person is abused, threatened, intimidated or assaulted in his or her employment, including but not limited to threatening behavior, written or verbal threats, harassment, verbal abuse, and physical attacks.
The National Institute for the Prevention of Workplace Violence expands this definition, stating that workplace violence includes: “acts of aggression or violence including assaults, threats, disruptive, aggressive, hostile, or verbal or emotionally abusive behaviors that generate anxiety that occurs in, or are related to the workplace and entail a real or perceived risk of physical, emotional and/or psychological harm to individuals, or damage to an organization’s resources or capabilities.”
According to the CCOHS, examples include but are not limited to the following:
- Threatening behavior – Shaking fists, throwing objects, destroying property, etc.
- Verbal or written threats – An expression of intent to harm an individual or group.
- Harassment - Demeaning, embarrassing, humiliating, annoying, alarming or verbally abusive behavior that is unwelcome or would be expected to be. This includes words, gestures, intimidation, bullying, or other inappropriate actions.
- Verbal abuse – Swearing or using insulting or condescending language.
- Physical attacks - Hitting, pushing, shoving, kicking, etc.
Defining the Workplace
Because the term “workplace violence” includes the term workplace, it’s important to understand where that is. The workplace, according to OSHA, is not only the building in which employees work. It includes but is not limited to buildings along with their surrounding perimeters such as parking lots, fields, clients’ homes or businesses, and travel to and from work. It’s also important to note that a work setting can be a permanent or temporary location in which employees perform any work-related duty.
Types of Workplace Violence
1 – Committed by strangers. According to NIOSH, which describes this type of workplace violence as criminal intent, 85% of workplace violence deaths fall into this category. In this type, the person responsible for perpetrating acts of violence has no relationship with the business or its employees. Examples include robbery, terrorism, trespassing, and shoplifting.
2 – Committed by customers. The perpetrator in this type of violence does have a legitimate relationship with the business and engages in violent activity while being served by the organization. Those responsible can include clients, customers, patients, inmates, students, or anyone receiving services from a business.
3 – Committed by co-workers. In this type of workplace violence, the perpetrator can be a current or former employee who attacks or threatens another current or former employee in the workplace.
4 – Through personal relations. The violent individual in this scenario typically has a relationship with the victim but not the business. Domestic violence that occurs at work falls into this category.
Anyone in the workforce has the potential to be exposed to or affected by workplace violence in one of these four forms. That’s why it’s critical for employers to take preventative measures to ensure that they and their entire workforce are safe from the threat of workplace violence.