by Carol Fredrickson, Violence Free
Is your company vulnerable? Violence in the workplace is a huge liability and potentially a fiscal disaster waiting to happen. Unless you take reasonable action to ensure the safety of your employees, you could be faced with lawsuits, potentially loss of life and a damaged company image.
Fifty -seven percent of Human Resources professionals responding to the SHRM (Society of Human Resource Management) 1999 Workplace Violence Survey said that a violent incident had occurred in their workplace between January of 1996 and July of 1999. The 1999 survey found that shootings and stabbings account for approximately 2 percent of workplace violence incidents. More common acts of violence reported by respondents included verbal threats (41 percent) and pushing and shoving (19 percent). As for the causes of violent acts at work, personality conflicts were reported as the impetus of 55 percent of the incidents. Other common motivations included family or marital problems (36 percent) and work-related stress (24 percent).
This survey among others bears out the fact that the potential for violence in the workplace should still be a top concern for employers. Approximately $45 billion a year is lost to litigation awards, property damage and lost productivity from workplace violence. It is estimated that productivity can drop as much as 50% in the six to eight weeks following a workplace violence incident.
Some employers have not yet addressed the issue of workplace violence. Their negligence has not necessarily been purposeful. It has been due to a lack of awareness of the problem coupled with a preoccupation with everyday work and management pressures. This has caused employers to ignore some of the organizational factors that have contributed to workplace violence.
Some of those factors include:
- A weak, misunderstood or non-existent policy against all forms of violence in the workplace
- Failure to educate managers and supervisors in recognizing early warning signs or symptoms of impending violence and their responsibility to take action.
- No mechanism for reporting violent or threatening behavior
- Failure to take immediate action against those who have threatened or committed acts of workplace violence
- Inadequate physical security
- Negligence in the hiring, training, supervision, discipline and retention of employees
- Lack of in-house employee support systems
Employers who have addressed this issue have often overlooked domestic violence and how this plays a part in violence in the workplace. Survey data cited by the Family Violence Prevention Fund, a national nonprofit group focusing on domestic violence education and prevention, shows that nearly a quarter of women nationwide have experienced domestic violence. More than one-third of those women report that this abuse had an impact on their work performance in the forms of lateness, missed work and keeping a job.
Companies that have an effective workplace violence policy and a good security program are shown to have the lowest rate of violence in the workplace, based on a study by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Move immediately to protect your company image and more importantly to protect the safety of your employees. Create a Violence Free workplace.
Carol Fredrickson is President and CEO of Violence Free, based in Phoenix, Arizona. She is an expert in violence prevention who speaks and consults across North America.
© 2002 Violence Free
If you would like permission to reprint our article in your company newsletter all you need to do is e-mail us at safety@violence-free.com
or call us at 623-242-8797.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Return to the Safety News index GO
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
