Workplace Violence: What To Know What To Do

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Workplace ViolenceWhat To KnowWhat To Do

• William McPeck
• Director
• Employee Health and Safety
• Maine State Government

2
The Perspective I Bring

• Social worker with EAP specialization
• Maine State Fire Marshals Office
• Investigated fires, explosions and arsons
• Trained in criminal profiling
• Trained in threat assessment
• Instructor in non-violent crisis intervention

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What Is Workplace Violence?

• Workplace violence
• Any act of physical violence overt aggression
• Homicide, physical and sexual assault
• Workplace aggression emotional toll
• Expressions of hostility
• Gestures, facial expressions and verbal assaults
• Threats of physical violence
• Harassment, intimidation, bullying
• Ostracism/shunning
• Obstructionism
• Passive/aggressive behaviors that impede job
  performance or achievement of organizational
  objectives
• Source Joel Neuman, Journal of Management,
  May/June, 1998

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Workplace Violence Can

• Be inflicted by a stranger with criminal intent,
  or
• Be inflicted by an abusive
• Employee, supervisor or manager
• Client, patient or customer
• Former employee, manager or supervisor
• Family member or significant other

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Workplace Violence Can

• Affect or involve
• Employees
• Visitors, customers, patients or clients
• contractors

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Why the Increase in Workplace Violence?

• Increase in societal tolerance of violence
• Acceptance of violence as a form of communication
• Increased accessibility to weapons
• Less control over work environment
• Lack of careers, commitment and loyalty
• Job vs. career
• Downsizing, Reengineering
• Do more with less
• Loss of middle management

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Why the Increase in Workplace Violence? (cont)

• Substance abuse
• Psychological factors
• Increasing stress
• Breakdown of support systems
• Nuclear families
• Extended families
• Sense of neighborhood/community
• Change
• The increasing pace of change
• Ability to cope with pace of organizational change

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Why the Increase in Workplace Violence? (cont)

• Insatiable electronic media demands
• 24/7 TV news
• The Internet
• Government and government workers easy targets
  for angry citizens
• Changes in government benefits and services
• Entitlement philosophy

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How Big Is The Problem?

• Source of the statistics needs to be kept in mind
• Two general sources of data
• Crime statistics
• Occupational injury statistics
• OSHA
• Bureau of Labor Statistics Annual Survey
• National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities
  Surveillance System - NIOSH

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How Big Is The Problem?

• Nationally
• 1 million individuals are the victim of a violent
  workplace crime each year (BJS)
• This represents 15 of all violent crimes
  committed annually in America (BJS)
• The 1998 National Crime Victimization Survey
  estimates some 2 million American workers are
  victims of workplace violence each year.
• (Source Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1994)
• (Source National Crime Victimization Study
  1998)

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How Big Is The Problem?

• Nationally (cont)
• 1980 1989 nearly 7,600 U.S. workers were
  victims of homicide in the workplace
• Approximately 12 of all deaths from injury in
  the workplace
• Causes of death in the workplace
• 1 Motor vehicle
• 2 Machinery
• 3 Homicide
• (Source NIOSH, 1993)

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How Big Is The Problem?

• Nationally (cont)
• Workplace Homicides
• _at_7,600 1980 1989 (NIOSH, 1993)
• 1,080 in 1994 (BLS)
• 860 in 1997 (BLS)
• 645 in 1999 (BLS)
• Overall workplace homicide has remained the third
  most frequent cause of fatalities in the
  workplace

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How Big Is The Problem?

• Nationally (cont)
• 1997, Percent of Work-Related Homicides by Type
• Type 1 Criminal Intent 85
• Type 2 Customer/Client 3
• Type 3 Co or Past Worker 7
• Type 4 Personal Relationship 5
• (Source BLS)

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How Big Is The Problem?

• Nationally (cont)
• From 1980 1989, workplace homicide was the
  leading cause of fatal occupational injury for
  women (NIOSH, 1993)
• In 1999, workplace homicide was the second
  leading cause of fatal occupational injury for
  women (BJS)

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How Big Is The Problem?

• Nationally (cont)
• Victims of Workplace Violence 1992 1996
• 73.6 Simple Assault
• 19.7 Aggravated Assault
• 4.2 Robbery
• 2.5 Rape and Sexual Assault
• 0.05 Homicide
• Source National Crime Victimization Study - 1998

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How Big Is The Problem?

• Nationally (cont)
• Fully 99.8 of the victims of workplace violence
  survive the assaults they experience
• Source Joel Neuman, Journal of Management,
  May/June, 1998
• This doesnt make the experience any less
  traumatic!

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How Big Is The Problem?

• Nationally (cont)
• Average number of violent non-fatal
  victimizations in the workplace, 1992 1996,by
  selected occupations
• Retail - _at_285,000
• Law Enforcement _at_240,000
• Teaching - _at_135,000
• Medical - _at_130,000
• Mental Health - _at_ 75,000
• Transportation - _at_ 65,000
• Source University of Iowa, Injury Prevention
  Research Center, February 2001

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How Big Is The Problem?

• Maines Experience (Source Bureau of Labor
  Statistics)
• Disabling Cases
• 1997 144 cases 1.1
• 1998 164 cases 1.3
• 1999 218 cases 1.3
• Maine State Government Employees
• Mental health workers
• Correctional workers
• Law Enforcement personnel

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Who Commits Workplace Violence?

• 80 committed by males
• 40 committed by complete strangers
• 35 committed by casual acquaintances
• 19 by individuals well known to victim
• 1 by relatives of the victim
• (Source Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1994)

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Weapons Used

• WORKPLACE HOMICIDES, 1990-1989
• Guns 75
• Knives etc. 14 (Source, NIOSH, 1993)
• In 62 of the violent crimes the perpetrator was
  not armed in 30 of the violent crimes the
  perpetrator was armed with a handgun (Source
  BJS, 1994)

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Where Did The Incidents Occur?

• 61 in private companies
• 30 in government agencies
• 8 involved self-employed individuals
• (Source BJS, 1994)

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What Does Workplace Violence Cost?

• The Economics of Workplace Violence
• Three most affected areas are
• Costly litigation
• Negligent hiring
• Negligent retention
• Negligent supervision
• Inadequate security
• Lost productivity
• gt 80 for 2 weeks post incident
• CISD, investigations, PTSD
• Increased turnover
• Decreased morale

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What Does Workplace Violence Cost?

• The Economics of Workplace Violence (Continued)
• Damage Control
• Tangible
• Customer buying decisions
• Intangible
• Media exposure
• Community relations
• Corporate image
• (Source Workplace Violence Research Institute)

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What Does Workplace Violence Cost?

• Estimated that some 500,000 employees miss
  1,751,000 days of work annually or 3.5 days per
  incident
• This missed work equates to approximately 55
  million in lost wages
• (Source BJS, 1994)

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Classifications of Workplace Violence

• Type I Criminal Intent
• Type II Customer/Client
• Type III Worker-on-Worker
• Type IV Personal Relationship
• Source University of Iowa, Injury Prevention
  Research Center, February 2001

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Classifications of Workplace Violence

• Type I Criminal Intent
• Perpetrator has no legitimate relationship to the
  organization or its employees
• A crime is usually being committed in conjunction
  with the violence
• Robbery, shoplifting, criminal trespassing

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Classifications of Workplace Violence (cont)

• Type II Customer/Client
• The perpetrator has a legitimate relationship
  with the organization The recipient or object
  of services provided by the affected workplace or
  victim
• This category includes customers, clients,
  patients, students, inmates, etc.

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Classifications of Workplace Violence (cont)

• Type III Worker-on-Worker
• The perpetrator is an employee or past employee
  of the organization who attacks or threatens
  fellow past or present employees
• May be seeking revenge for what is perceived as
  unfair treatment
• Includes employees, supervisors and managers

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Classifications of Workplace Violence (cont)

• Type IV Personal Relationship
• The perpetrator usually does not have a
  legitimate relationship with the organization,
  but has or has had a personal relationship with
  the intended victim
• May involve a current or former spouse, lover,
  relative, friend, or acquaintance
• Domestic violence carried out at the workplace
• The perpetrator is motivated by perceived
  difficulties in the relationship or by
  psychosocial factors that are specific to the
  perpetrator

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What Are Possible Risk Factors?

• Exchange of money with the public
• Working alone or in small numbers
• Working late night or early morning
• Working in high crime areas
• Guarding valuable property or possessions
• Working in community settings
• (e.g. taxicab drivers, retail clerks, police)

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What Are Possible Risk Factors? (cont)

• Where alcohol/drugs sold or dispensed
• Exposure to unstable or volatile persons? (e.g.
  health care, social services, criminal justice
  settings)
• Employees deciding on benefits, or in some way
  controlling a persons future, well-being or
  freedom? (Such as a government agency does)
• (Source NIOSH)

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Conditions Allowing Workplace Violence

• Individual Characteristics
• Precipitating Events or Conditions
• System Characteristics
• Source Workplace Solutions, 1997

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Conditions Allowing Workplace Violence (cont)

• Individual Characteristics
• Paranoid personality and thinking
• Drug and/or alcohol problem
• Life stressor divorce/separation, illness,
  helplessness, loss or control, isolation

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Conditions Allowing Workplace Violence (cont)

• Precipitating events or conditions
• Termination
• Job changes
• Harassment by co-workers or supervisors

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Conditions Allowing Workplace Violence (cont)

• System Characteristics
• Not recognizing or ignoring early warning signs
• Indifference to the needs of employees
• Poor management of downsizings, terminations and
  accidents
• Punishing or terminating impaired or deviant
  employees
• Poor or non-existent communication between labor
  and management

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Conditions Allowing Workplace Violence (cont)

• System Characteristics (cont)
• Information that could signal problems is not
  shared
• Lack of commitment and involvement by top
  management

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Indicators of Potential Workplace Violence

• Intimidating, harassing, bullying, belligerent or
  other inappropriate and aggressive behavior
• Numerous conflicts with customers, co-workers or
  supervisors
• Bringing a weapon to the workplace (unless job
  related)
• Making inappropriate references to guns

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Indicators of Potential Workplace Violence
(cont)

• Making threats or idle threats about using a
  weapon to harm someone
• Making statements showing a fascination with
  incidents of workplace violence
• Making statements indicating approval of the use
  of violence to resolve a problem

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Indicators of Potential Workplace Violence
(cont)

• Making statements indicating the identification
  with perpetrators of workplace homicides
• Statements indicating desperation over family,
  financial or other types of personal problems
• Statements about contemplating suicide

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Indicators of Potential Workplace Violence
(cont)

• Direct or veiled threats of harm
• Substance abuse
• Extreme changes in normal behavior
• Source U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1998

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Profile of the Most Likely Type III Perpetrator

• A male, aged 25 to 40 years
• Has a history of violence
• Tends to be a loner
• Owns several weapons
• Has requested some form of assistance in the past
• Exhibits frequent anger
• Has a history of conflict with others

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Profile of the Most Likely Type III Perpetrator
(cont)

• Has a history of family or marital problems
• After periods of verbalizing anger, will become
  withdrawn
• Is paranoid
• Exhibits self-destructive behavior such as
  alcohol and/or drug use
• Remember, dont take profile too literally
• Source www.svn.net/mikekell/v3.html

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Behavior Warning Signs of Potential Violence and
Their Probability of Occurrence

• Male (80 or better)
• White (75 or better)
• Working age (90 or better)
• Will display one or more of the following
  behaviors (90 or better)
• A history of violence
• Evidence of psychosis
• Evidence of abnormally strong sexual desire
  (erotomania)

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Behavior Warning Signs of Potential Violence and
Their Probability of Occurrence (cont)

• Evidence of drug and/or alcohol dependence
• Evidence of depression and withdrawal
• A pattern of pathological blaming
• Evidence of impaired neurological functioning
• An elevated frustration level
• An interest/fascination in weapons
• Evidence of a personality disorder

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Behavior Warning Signs of Potential Violence and
Their Probability of Occurrence (cont)

• Unexplained increase in absenteeism
• Noticeable decrease in attention to appearance
  and personal hygiene
• Has a plan to solve all problems
• Resistance and over reaction to changes in
  policies or procedures
• repeated violations of the organizations
  policies

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Behavior Warning Signs of Potential Violence and
Their Probability of Occurrence (cont)

• The following behaviors are commonly exhibited,
  but have an uncertain probability
• Will vocalize or otherwise act out, violent
  intentions prior to committing a violent act
• Over a sustained period of time, will exhibit
  behaviors that are interpreted as insignificant,
  strange, bizarre or threatening by coworkers and
  supervisors
• Remember These are general guidelines.
• Exceptions will always occur
• Source Workplace Violence Research Institute

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Preventing Workplace Violence

• Three general approaches to prevention
• Environmental
• Administrative/Organizational
• Behavioral/Interpersonal
• Source University of Iowa, Injury Prevention
  Research Center, February 2001

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Preventing Workplace Violence (cont)

• Environmental
• Adequate inside and outside lighting
• Secure entrances and exits
• Security hardware
• Turnstiles
• Key cards
• Smart cards
• Biometric systems
• Physical barriers

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Preventing Workplace Violence (cont)

• Environmental (cont)
• Metal and Explosives Detectors
• Security Forces
• Uniformed vs. Business Attire
• Armed vs. unarmed
• Specialized customer/client meeting rooms
• Other engineering controls

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Preventing Workplace Violence (cont)

• Administrative/Organizational
• Programs
• Workplace Violence Plan
• Threat Assessment Team
• EAP
• Policies
• Harassment
• Workplace violence
• SOPs

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Preventing Workplace Violence (cont)

• Administrative/Organizational (cont)
• Hiring and Termination Practices
• Hiring
• Corroborate information on applications/resumes
  (42 contain intentional misstatements of
  material facts)
• Interview Use of open-ended questions
• Looking for a pattern of aggressive behavior
• Conduct background investigation
• Firing
• Consider the possibility of violent response
• Plan out script out the procedure

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Preventing Workplace Violence (cont)

• Administrative/Organizational (cont)
• Work Practice Controls - Work practices aimed at
  maintaining a safe working environment Written
  procedures and guidelines

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Preventing Workplace Violence (cont)

• Behavioral/Interpersonal
• Changing employee attitudes toward security It
  wont happen to me
• Staff training Train staff to anticipate,
  recognize and respond to conflict and potential
  violence in the workplace
• Personal security techniques
• Non-violent crisis intervention techniques
• De-escalation techniques
• Communication techniques
• How to report violent, inappropriate, disruptive
  or threatening behavior

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Preventing Workplace Violence (cont)

• Supervisor/manager training in addition to the
  staff level training, supervisors and managers
  should receive training in
• Creating a positive work culture/climate that
  supports employees
• Developing skills for displaying compassion,
  concern and support for employees employee
  trust is critical
• How to best utilize the EAP

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Preventing Workplace Violence (cont)

• Supervisor/manager training (cont)
• Performance management
• Administering progressive discipline
• Contract management/grievance handling
• Employee counseling/coaching

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Special Considerations For Managers/Supervisors

• What are the workplace violence risks at the
  worksites you run?
• Indicators that employees need immediate
  intervention
• Excessive tardiness or absences
• An increased need for supervisory attention or
  supervision
• Reduced productivity
• Inconsistent work habits
• Strained workplace relationships

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Special Considerations For Managers/Supervisors
(cont)

• Inability to concentrate
• Violation of safety procedures
• New, sudden involvement in accidents or
  violations
• Changes in health or hygiene
• Unusual or sudden behavioral change
• Fascination with weapons
• Alcohol and/or drug abuse
• Anonymous, confidential screening
• 1-877-788-4173

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Special Considerations For Managers/Supervisors
(cont)

• Stress
• Excuses and Blaming
• Depression
• Anonymous and confidential screening
• 1-877-788-4173

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Responding to Workplace Violence

• Facility Emergency Action Plan
• Threat Assessment Team
• Emergency Response Team
• CISD
• EAP and Behavioral Health Services
• Media Contact
• Organizational Recovery/Continued Operation Plan

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Special Issues for Field Forces

• Need to develop specific safety guidelines to
  employees specific situation and the problems
  they are likely to encounter
• Preparation of daily work plans/itinerary (e.g.
  flight plan)
• Maintaining periodic contact throughout their
  tour of duty

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Special Issues for Field Forces (cont)

• Use of a buddy system
• Need to recognize potentially dangerous
  situations ahead of time, so back-up can be
  secured/started or a strategy implemented so the
  employee does not go in alone
• Source U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1998

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For Further Information

• William McPeck
• Director, Employee Health and Safety
• Maine State Government
• 114 Sate House Station
• Augusta, ME 04333
• 207-287-6783 (voice)
• 207-287-6796 (fax)
• william.c.mcpeck_at_state.me.us