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Premises Security and Liability Manual
Preventing Violence in the Workplace
Few would argue that over the past ten years, occupational violence
has become a serious problem facing workers and employers alike.
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH), nearly 7000 workers were victims of homicide in the workplace
during the period of 1980 to 1989. Among female employees, homicide
was the number one cause of death. In 1992, five states and the
District of Columbia reported that homicide was the leading cause of
occupational deaths for all employees, men or women.
If on average, 700 workers died each year in the 1980s, how many
others must have been victims of non-lethal attacks? Northwestern
National Life reported that more than 2 million Americans, or
15 percent, were victims of physical attacks at the workplace during
1992. Eighteen percent were attacked with a deadly weapon. Other
experts believe these figures to be too conservative since they may
not take into account acts of violence committed outside, but
originating inside, the workplace.
Clearly, something must be done. Employees not only deserve a
safe work environment, several states mandate it. Labor attorneys
recognize that employers may be exposing their corporations to potentially
costly litigations if there is no Workplace Violence Prevention
Program and executives are being made aware of the enormous costs
associated with incidents involving occupational violence.
Three questions deserve closer examination: Why the increase in
workplace related violence? How does an incident involving occupational
violence affect a business economically? And what can be done to
avoid violence in the workplace?
The Growth of Occupational Violence
Incidents of work related violence were virtually unheard of until
the 1970s. Since then, it has more than tripled. As companies
down-size, reorganize, reengineer, and demand more of each employee,
stress levels increase to the breaking point, causing work related
violence to escalate.
Most experts agree that social issues, especially substance abuse,
illegal drugs, layoffs, and poverty are major contributors to
occupational violence. The ease with which guns can be obtained,
excessive graphic violence on TV and in movies, language and ethnic
differences among workers, and the general acceptance of violence
as a form of communication by a large segment of our population are
other causes frequently cited by those closely associated with this problem.
The Economics of Violence
Top management is just now starting to recognize the enormity of the
financial consequences associated with an incident involving workplace
violence. The three most affected areas are costly litigations, lost
productivity, and damage control. Research conducted by the Workplace
Violence Research Institute (WVRI) revealed that multiple law suits
were filed against the employer in each instance where the act resulted
in deaths or injuries. The causes for the litigations involving acts
of violence by employees are generally negligent hiring and negligent
retention. Since most cases are settled out of court, accurate average
costs are not known. There are, however, several recent awards in
excess of 3 million dollars, including the $4.25 million awarded on
December 3, 1993 to a postal employee shot by a co-worker in
Dearborn, Michigan.
Lost productivity following an incident is frequently underestimated.
Losses in productivity occur throughout the enterprise with decreases
of up to 80 percent for up to two weeks immediately after the incident.
Losses are caused by the unavailability of the killed or injured worker,
work interruptions caused by police and internal security investigations
and damage to the facility, time lost by surviving employees talking
about the incident and the details leading up to it, decreased efficiency
and productivity due to post-traumatic stress syndrome, and time spent
by employees in counseling sessions.
Every company surveyed by the WVRI which had a workplace violence
related incident reported a dramatic increase in employee turnover
and an equally dramatic drop in employee morale. Among the many
reasons cited for these changes is the fact that most individuals
readily accept responsibility for their own safety and security at home.
However, almost all employees feel that it is the employer’s duty to
provide a safe work environment. Therefore, employees feel betrayed
when a violent incident occurs at work. The direct financial
consequences of turn-over and low morale are hiring and training
expenditures and decreased productivity.
Damage control has both tangible and intangible cost factors.
Media accounts of the incident, whether accurate or not, and rumors
that always follow, may influence the buying decisions of the firm’s
customers. Restoring the corporation’s reputation following charges
of incompetent or irresponsible management may require a major
commitment of both human and financial resources.
Protecting Workers from Violence
The final questions is: What can be done to avoid occupational
violence? The answer is not so much what should be done but what
must be done. Since proven methods exist to reduce workplace
violence, every company has a responsibility to implement a Workplace
Violence Prevention Program. Not to do so exposes employees to
unnecessary risks and may well violate labor laws in some states.
There is, of course, no one solution for all acts of work related
violence. In some cases, such as hold-ups of jewelry, liquor, and
fast-food stores, traditional security measures must be implemented.
However, those incidents that most people now call "workplace
violence" and which involve present or former employees, clients,
and customers (including applicants for welfare or unemployment)
require the efforts of a committee comprised of representatives of
various departments. Depending on the size and complexity of the
company, the Executive Committee charged with implementing and
administering the Workplace Violence Prevention Program may include
Human Resources, Employee Assistance, Legal Counsel, Medical, Risk
Management, Security/Loss Control, Plant Management, and Union Leadership.
However, for a program with such a diversity of participants to succeed,
two prerequisites have to be met. One, the program must have the
support and endorsement of top management. This could be evidenced
by a letter from the chairman, president, or CEO to all employees and
a separate memorandum to all affected department heads mandating
their personal participation. Two, the chairperson of the committee
should either be an executive higher than the participating department
heads or an experienced consultant approved by senior management.
How the Executive Committee Functions
The committee must first agree on the program’s mission and objectives.
Committee members must realize that some tasks can only be achieved
through inter-departmental cooperative efforts. Next, the committee
should draft company policies, procedures, and regulations for approval
by senior management. Employees should have a clear understanding of
management’s position on drug and alcohol use, sexual harassment,
threats, intimidation, violence, minimum standards of conduct, dress,
and language, etc. There should also be a clear statement regarding
items that are prohibited on company property, including parking areas.
This of course would include all types of firearms, switchblades and
knives with a blade in excess of a defined length. It may also include
chains and baseball bats.
The committee must be aware of the three primary opportunities to
prevent workplace violence: At the time an employee is hired, when
he is terminated, and through employee education.
New Hire Practices
Proper screening procedures during the hiring process will keep
potentially dangerous individuals out of the work force. These
procedures should include a clear warning to all applicants that
the enterprise conducts thorough background investigations of all
new employees and requires a signed waiver to allow the company
access to criminal, drivers, employment, financial, military, and
other appropriate records. In addition, all prospective employees
should be warned that they are subject to random drug and alcohol
testing and that failing the test is reason for immediate dismissal.
Being made aware of policy, many would-be applicants never complete
their application forms. Human resources or security department
personnel should carefully check each item on the application. Repeated
studies have shown that up to 42 percent of applications contain
intentional misstatements of material facts. They include inflated
employment periods to hide jobs with unsatisfactory performance,
termination for cause (theft, fighting, insubordination), or time
spent in jail. Frequently, applicants list non-existent undergraduate
and graduate degrees and exaggerate their position descriptions and
accomplishments.
It is true that it is increasingly difficult to get meaningful
performance and conduct information from a former employer.
Frequently, a personal visit to the applicant’s former place of
employment will bring more successful results, especially if they
are provided with a copy of the waiver signed by the employee.
References furnished by the applicant rarely have negative comments.
They should, however, be used to obtain names of other people who are
familiar with the applicant. These individuals and others whose names
will be furnished by them will probably give you the information needed
to make a meaningful evaluation.
"Reading" criminal and motor vehicle records may require
some assistance from a security practitioner, private investigator,
or police officer. A "reckless driving" conviction may
be a reduced charge of driving under the influence of illegal drugs
or alcohol. Petty larceny could be a plea-bargained charge of grand theft.
Finally, each applicant should be interviewed individually by two
responsible members of the company’s staff at different times. This
provides another opportunity to question and obtain concurring opinions
on the suitability of the applicant.
Firing Procedures
To reduce the possibility of violence resulting from a termination, p
olicies and procedures should be designed to assist those responsible
for carrying out this task. Although procedures may vary depending on
the type of business, the following items should be considered:
VIOLENCE PRONE BEHAVIOR
Research of over 200 incidents of workplace violence revealed
that in each case, the suspect exhibited multiple pre-incident
indicators that included the following symptoms:
Employee Education
Probably the most effective way to identify and thus have the
opportunity to correctly deal with a potentially violent employee,
client, or customer is through employee education and the adoption
of a "Confidential Information Collection and Evaluation
Center" (CICEC).
Additionally, without seminars or workshops, most employees feel
that bringing odd behavior to the attention of the company
constitutes a form of "ratting" or informing on their
co-workers. Not until the system is explained to them in a training
session do they realize that reporting such potentially dangerous
behavior is in the best interest of all, including the offender.
Only if management is aware can they take appropriate actions,
including counseling for the troubled employee.
The most effective vehicle to deal with the identification, collection,
and evaluation of workplace violence related information is the CICEC.
Employees are given a toll-free, 24-hour, "800" telephone number
to report suspect behavior by a co-worker, client, or customer.
Once an employee files such a report, he or she is issued a personal
identification number (PIN) to assure continued anonymity and asked
to call back at the end of the next business day. The information
is then checked against other information previously received on the
same individual. The evaluator, an expert on occupational violence,
will brief members of the Executive Committee and make recommendations
concerning appropriate actions that should be taken. The requested
call-back by the reporting employee gives the evaluator the opportunity
to obtain clarification or additional information.
To be effective, all employees must have complete trust in the integrity
and confidentiality of the CICEC. For this reason, only very large
corporations should have this function in-house. Others may select
a well-established, reputable outside firm to handle this task.
Of the hundreds of inquiries that are received each week by the Workplace
Violence Research Institute, none is more pervasive than the question:
What is the profile of the individual who commits acts of violence in
the workplace?
It is true that commonalities exist among the offenders of past
workplace violence and that these characteristics will probably
appear in future suspects. However, it would be a grave mistake
to disregard suspected symptoms simply because the individual does
not fit the description of the "profile."
Following are some of the commonalities identified in offenders of
workplace related violence:
There simply is no good reason for a business, large or small, not to
have a Workplace Violence Prevention Program in place. It protects the
employees, avoids costly litigations, preserves the company’s reputation,
improves the bottom line, but most of all is morally and ethically the
right thing to do. After all, everybody who earns a living has a right
to a safe and secure work environment.
During post-incident investigations, employees and co-workers
in each case stated that they observed one or more of these
symptoms but considered them insignificant or just "weird"
behavior. Unfortunately, these employees had not been briefed in
symptom recognition of potentially violent behavior, nor given
instructions on how to report such information.
There is no indication that the social and other issues that are
believed to be the underlying causes for the dramatic increase in
occupational violence will change in the near future. On the contrary,
experts believe that violence as a form of communication and conflict
resolution will continue to increase. Fortunately, answers and methods
for addressing the problem are now available.
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