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Workplace Violence


Workplace violence, a growing concern for employers and employees nationwide, is violence or the threat of violence against workers. It includes acts of violence within or outside of the workplace and can range from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and homicide; it is one of the leading causes of job-related deaths. Although workplace violence can happen to anyone, employees in certain occupations are particularly vulnerable.  These jobs include home delivery, working alone late at night or early in the morning in convenience stores or other such venues, driving a taxi, utility work, and law enforcement.

Recent Statistics on Workplace Violence:

  • In 2010, 506 workplace homicides occurred in the United States, which is a decrease from 2009.1
  • 79.25 percent (401) of 2010 workplace homicides were shootings.2
  • Assaults and attacks-including homicide-make up 18 percent of all fatal occupational injuries and are the second-leading cause of such injuries.3

  • Workplace homicides declined 7 percent in 2010 to the lowest ever recorded total by the fatality census. However, workplace homicides involving women increased 13 percent.4

  • In 2008, 14.8 percent of violent crimes and 14.7 percent of property crimes were committed against victims who were at work or on duty at the time, amounting to 678,026 violent crimes and 2,398,919 property victimizations.5

  • Of the 678,026 violent crimes committed against victims who were working or on duty in 2008, 553,201 were simple assaults, 99,171were aggravated assaults, 11,595 were robberies, and 12,633 were rapes or sexual assaults.6

  • From 2002 to 2009, the rate of nonfatal workplace violence declined 35 percent, following a 62 percent decline in the rate from 1993 to 2002.7

  • The average annual rate of workplace violence between 2005 and 2009 (5 violent crimes per 1,000 employed persons age 16 or older) was about one-third the rate of non-workplace violence (16 violent crimes per 1,000 employed persons age 16 or older) and violence against persons not employed (17 violent crimes per 1,000 persons age 16 or older).8

  • Strangers committed the greatest proportion of nonfatal workplace violence against males (53 percent) and females (41 percent) between 2005 and 2009.9

  • Among workplace homicides that occurred between 2005 and 2009, about 28 percent involved victims in sales and related occupations and about 17 percent involved victims in protective service occupations.10

  • About 70 percent of workplace homicides were committed by robbers and other assailants while about 21 percent were committed by work associates between 2005 and 2009.11

  • More than half (54.5 percent) of surveyed emergency nurses reported having experienced physical violence and/or verbal abuse from a patient and/or visitor during a 7-calendar- day period, in which the nurses worked an average of 36.9 hours.12

  • 11.2 percent of surveyed emergency nurses reported both physical and verbal abuse over a 7-day period, while 42.5 reported verbal abuse alone in the past 7 days.13

  • Of surveyed emergency room nurses who reported having been victims of physical violence in the workplace, 62.2 percent experienced more than one incident of physical violence from a patient or visitor during a 7-day period.14

References

  1. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2010 (Preliminary results)," (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010), http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cfch0009.pdf, 6 (accessed October 4, 2011).
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Occupational Homicides by Selected Characteristics" (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011), 198, http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/work_hom.pdf (accessed November 3, 2011).
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2010 (Preliminary results)," (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010), http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cfch0009.pdf, 4 (accessed October 4, 2011).
  4. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2010 (Preliminary results) press release," (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011), http:///.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cfoi.pdf, 1 (accessed October 7, 2011).
  5. Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Criminal Victimization in the United States, 2008: Statistical Tables," (May 2010), calculated from Table 64, http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/cvus08.pdf (accessed September 29, 2011).
  6. Ibid.
  7. Erika Harrell, "Workplace Violence, 1993?2009 (Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2011), 1, http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/wv09.pdf (accessed November 3, 2011).
  8. Ibid.
  9. Ibid.
  10. Ibid.
  11. Ibid.
  12. Emergency Nurses Association, Institute for Emergency Nursing Research, Emergency Department Violence Surveillance Study (Des Plaines, IL: Author, 2011), 16.
  13. Ibid.
  14. Ibid.