Workplace violence typically falls into one of four categories, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Specific workplaces are at risk for different types of violence, so identifying the type your company is most at risk for can help with planning.
Type I: Criminal intent. In this kind of violent incident, the perpetrator has no legitimate relationship to the business or its employee(s). Rather, the violence is incidental to another crime, such as robbery, shoplifting, or trespassing. Acts of terrorism also fall into this category.
The vast majority of workplace homicides (85 percent) are Type I violence. Your workplace may be at higher risk of Type I violence if your business handles cash or drugs or could be a target for terrorists.
Type II: Customer/client. When the violent person has a legitimate relationship with the business—for example, the person is a customer, client, patient, student, or inmate—and becomes violent while being served by the business, violence falls into this category.
A large portion of customer/client incidents occur in the healthcare industry, in settings such as nursing homes or psychiatric facilities; the victims are often patient caregivers. Police officers, prison staff, flight attendants, and teachers can also become victims of this kind of violence.
Read more…
When a distraught man shot a doctor, killed his mother and fatally turned the gun on himself at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital last fall, the public learned what health care workers know all too well. The halls of healing aren’t immune to workplace violence.
In fact, health care workers are about three times more likely than workers in other industries to be injured by acts of violence, according to “State of the Sector/Healthcare and Social Assistance,” a report published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in 2009.
Workplace violence in health care settings is increasing, according to the American Nurses Association. Of all industries reporting physical injuries from workplace violence, the health care sector tops the list.
“Most people think of guns and shooting when asked about workplace violence,” said Dan Hartley, an epidemiologist and workplace violence prevention coordinator at NIOSH. “But when I asked emergency room nurses at an Emergency Nurses Association conference this year, they talked about patients acting out, yelling, shoving, hitting by peers, supervisors or patients and their families. Violence can take many forms.”
Read more…
What role can CCTV play in the prevention and investigation of workplace violence?
A:
On June 15, 2010, Bill 168, “An Act to amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act with respect to violence and harassment in the workplace and other matters” came into force in Ontario. It amends the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) to include definitions of workplace violence and workplace harassment.
Specifically, subsection 1(1) of OHSA is amended by adding the following definitions:
“Workplace harassment”
This means engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct against a worker in a workplace that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome
“Workplace violence” means
(a) the exercise of physical force by a person against a worker, in a workplace, that causes or could cause physical injury to the worker,
(b) an attempt to exercise physical force against a worker, in a workplace, that could cause physical injury to a worker,
(c) a statement or behaviour that is reasonable for a worker to interpret as a threat to exercise physical force against the worker, in a workplace, that could cause physical injury to the worker.
The amendments to OHSA also impose new requirements for employers, as follows:
1. Employers will be required to develop written policies with respect to both workplace violence and workplace harassment which must be reviewed annually.
2. Employers must develop and maintain programs to implement the policies and to deal with incidents and complaints of workplace violence and harassment.
3. Employers must assess the risk of workplace violence that may arise from the nature of the workplace, the type of work or the conditions of work. The program developed to implement the workplace violence policy must include measures and procedures to control the risks identified in the assessment.
Read more…
The possibility that a tragic event may occur at an office or place of employment is not first and foremost on the minds of every worker. But when it happens, it makes the news and strikes fear among all workers.
Two episodes so far this year show how random and tragic these incidents can be. A disgruntled ex-employee marched into a truck rental company near Atlanta and opened fire, killing two and wounding three in January. During a shift change, an employee at a transformer manufacturing plant in St. Louis killed three and injured five. These incidents had nothing in common other than the fact that innocent people were killed on the job.
These incidents were reminiscent of an event that happened in South Florida more than 20 years ago. When Arthur Kane murdered Jose Argillagos in the Merrill Lynch offices in Kendall shock waves rippled throughout South Florida. Concern about violence in today’s workplace is so critical that OSHA formed a new alliance in March last year with Florida health care providers and professional associations to work together to address the problem of workplace violence in the state.
SCARY STATISTICS
The number of work-related homicides rose by more than 40 percent from 2006 to 2007 in the state of Florida, according to OSHA’s area director. Recent numbers are equally alarming. These extreme examples of violence are often entirely unexpected. However, employers are, by law, required to provide a safe workplace.
Many incidents are foreseeable and/or preventable. Recognizing a situation that may escalate and erupt into violence is often the key to stemming the violence.
Through the use of effective pre-employment documents and thorough background checks, certain temperaments can be understood and situations avoided. Upon the potential hire of a new staffer, employers should conduct background investigations to discover prior convictions, litigation history, motor vehicle records, employment references, credit history, education records and other relevant background information concerning the applicant.
Read more…
