According to BLS statistics, in 2017, of the 5,147 fatal work injuries reported, 807 people were fatally injured in a workplace violence attack, an intentional injury by another person. That’s 15.6% of the total deaths reported. Violence is the third leading cause of death for healthcare workers and employees in professional and business services like education, law and media.
Workplace violence can happen anywhere, which is why I put together one of my safety video briefs.
Although there isn’t an OSHA standard you need to comply with regarding workplace violence, it’s important to be assessing for the threat.
OSHA identifies four types of workplace violence in which every company should ask the question, “Do we have this risk?”
- Stranger violence. Random acts, such as retail robberies or other situations in which employees have contact with the general public.
- Client and/or patient violence. The nature of your work puts you more at risk, i.e., hospitals and social service, government employees, schools, correctional facilities
- Employee violence. Interactions between employee-to-employee or employer-to-employee.
- Personal violence. Typically involves domestic violence with someone who doesn’t work there but has a personal relationship with an employee.
Listen to my safety brief video for more tips and examples.
Resources
• OSHA Workplace Violence
• Workplace Violence in Healthcare
• Workplace Violence: Are Supervisors and Managers Prepared?
• Tips for Developing a Workplace-violence Prevention Program