Workplace Violence Lecture 11 PDF

Work place violence Obviously, this is violence that takes place in the workplace. We are only interested in physical violence, not gossip, career sabotage, etc. And only criminal violence, so not soldiers killed in war. And based on the limitations of data, soldiers harmed by non-combatant violenc...

Work place violence Obviously, this is violence that takes place in the workplace. We are only interested in physical violence, not gossip, career sabotage, etc. And only criminal violence, so not soldiers killed in war. And based on the limitations of data, soldiers harmed by non-combatant violence are not presented in standard violence data. (Although I have published papers on “horizontal violence” which included measures of degradation, backstabbing, career sabotage, etc. among nurses. Horizontal violence is between peers of the same power level, such as nurses. Vertical violence would be between those of different power levels, such as a doctor against a nurse, a teacher against a student. The violence can go in both directions: teacher to student, or student to teacher). There are a few possibilities in how workplace violence can take place: co-worker violent to worker (vertical or horizontal) Customer violent to worker Robber violent to worker (most common) known associate (like friend or family member) violent to worker The National Crime Victimization Survey conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated 1.7 million nonfatal workplace victimizations occurred each year, accounting for 18% of all violent crime. Assaults are the most common, then robbery, then rape. Overall, men are about 50% higher than women to be victimized (rape victimization rates are different) Whites are at a higher risk than blacks, this is of course very different than non-work related. Younger workers at highest risk. However, we will focus on homicide, as others are assaults and robberies, and are mostly covered in other chapters. The homicide trends for workplace track general homicide trends, as the overall rate has been declining, so has workplace violence. Only about 10% of all workplace deaths are homicide (this risk changes by occupation, some have none, some higher. About half of all police deaths are homicide). 92% of the workers who died were men. The gender disparity in workplace fatalities has remained steady for the past 30 years. Why do so many more men die than women? First, and perhaps obviously, more men than women work in the fields with the highest rates of occupational injuries. The occupations with the highest rates of deaths are loggers, fishing workers, aircraft pilots, flight engineers, and roofers. In 2018, 97% of loggers, 92% of fishing workers, 94% of pilots and flight engineers, and 98% of roofers were men. The workplace fatalities in these professions are caused by falls, exposure to harmful environments, and injuries by work equipment. Differences in choice of profession explain only part of the disparity in workplace deaths. Over 40% of all work-related deaths are from transportation incidents. This statistic aligns with the larger trend that over twice as many men as women die in motor vehicle accidents each year. Homicide and suicide are the third-leading cause of workplace deaths. Nationally, 77% of homicide deaths and 79% of suicide deaths are men. 85% of workplace violence deaths are due to robbery. Non-violence workplace death summary Key findings from the 2021 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries The share of Black or African American workers fatally injured on the job reached an all time high in 2021, increasing from 11.4 percent of total fatalities in 2020to 12.6 percent of total fatalities in 2021. Deaths for this group climbed to 653 in 2021 from 541 in 2020, a 20.7-percent increase. The fatality rate for this group increased from 3.5 in 2020 to 4.0 per 100,000 FTE workers in 2021. Suicides continued to trend down, decreasing to 236 in 2021 from 259 in 2020, an 8.9-percent decrease. Workers in transportation and material moving occupations experienced a series high of 1,523 fatal work injuries in 2021 and represent the occupational group with the highest number of fatalities. This is an increase of 18.8 percent from 2020. Transportation incidents remained the most frequent type of fatal event in 2021 with 1,982 fatal injuries, an increase of 11.5 percent from 2020. This major category accounted for 38.2 percent of all work related fatalities for 2021. Total on the job deaths 1. Job: Fishing Fatality rate: 127.3 per 100,000 workers 2. Job: Logging workers. Fatality rate: 104 per 100,000 workers, 3. Job: Aircraft pilots and flight engineers Fatality rate: 56.1 per 100,000 workers, 4. Job: Refuse and recyclable material collectors Fatality rate: 36.4 per 100,000 5. Job: Roofers Fatality rate: 34.1 per 100,000 workers 6. Job: Structural iron and steel workers Fatality rate: 30.3 per 100,000 workers, 7. Job: Helpers, construction trades Fatality rate: 26.8 per 100,000 workers 8. Job: Farmers, ranchers and agricultural managers Fatality rate: 26.1 per 100,000 workers; 9. Job: Truck drivers Fatality rate: 25.9 per 100,000 workers, 10. Job: Natural resources and mining Fatality rate: 22.1 per 100,000 workers, Workplace violence: homicides and nonfatal intentional injuries by another person in 2020 November 21, 2022 There were 392 workplace homicides in 2020. There were also 37,060 nonfatal injuries in the workplace resulting from an intentional injury by another person. The five occupational groups with the most workplace homicides in 2020 were sales and related, transportation and material moving, management, construction and extraction, and production. Homicides in sales and related occupations accounted for 23.5 percent of all workplace homicides in 2020. Key data sources: NIOSH National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of CDC NEISS National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, also part of CDC BLS Bureau of Labor Statistics. One of their best is National Census of Occupational Injuries. Solutions? Depends on if the risk is from outsiders (customers, robbers, family) or workers. Criminal justice: sentence enhancement, hot spot patrolling Public health and target hardening: prevention models, target specific industries by policy and technology (no taxis after certain time, bulletproof cages for taxis or fast food, cops work in pairs). Hiring prevention, screening practices. Firing protocols (when do you fire people, how, how does the company escort them off property, etc.) Florida has law that allows workers with concealed weapon or firearm license to leave a gun locked in their car at work. Some are forbidden still, On April 15, 2008, Florida Governor Charlie Crist signed into law a long disputed and politically divisive bill allowing Florida employees to bring guns to work – as long as the firearm is secured in the employee's locked vehicle. Employees are not permitted to remove firearms from their vehicles on an employer's property for any reason other than self-defense. The law also permits an employee to have ammunition for the firearm. 1. Specifics of the new Law Only employees legally able to possess such weapons are covered by the new law. Florida law places limits on those who may lawfully own firearms. For instance, individuals convicted of certain types of misdemeanors and felonies cannot legally buy or own firearms. Employees must also have a valid permit for any firearm kept in their vehicle on work property. It must be secured in the vehicle and placed out of sight. The new law also allows customers and "invitees" to maintain weapons in their cars under the same parameters while parked on property owned by a business or store. But old law says customers can bring in, unless prohibited by law. In addition, the new law prohibits employers from conditioning employment on whether an applicant has a concealed weapon permit. Nor may you ask employees, either verbally or in writing, if they have a weapon in their vehicle. Finally, you are prohibited from terminating or discriminating against employees because they maintain concealed weapons in their vehicles or have exhibited weapons on company property for lawful defensive purposes. The new law applies to both the public and private sector, but excludes some employers, including most schools, correctional institutions, property where a nuclear-powered electricity generation facility is located, certain facilities that transport, make or store combustible or explosive materials, and property upon which a public or private employer conducts activities involving national defense, aerospace, or homeland security. The law also restricts the carrying of a weapon in a vehicle to the employee's own car, truck or motorcycle. The new law does not give employees who drive company vehicles the right to maintain a firearm in their employer's vehicle. The Act's definition of "employee" is extremely broad, and includes interns, volunteers, and independent contractors. From an employer's perspective, extending to independent contractors and volunteers the right to keep a gun in their cars appears likely only to make it more difficult to maintain a secure workplace, and could further increase the potential risk of workplace violence. FAU quietly changed its firearms on campus policy to follow this law in 2011. It used to exclude the parking lot of the Henderson school, but now that area is included as well.