Violence in the workplace is a constant issue that plagues the United States. One of the most common forms of violence in the workplace is of the psychological nature. Bullying, intimidation and verbal threats are the least reported but the most common forms of workplace violence. However, according to FBI statistics, 80% of active shooter incidents occur in the workplace as well. Approximately 2 million people a year are affected by some form of workplace violence.
Workplace violence is not always about work-related issues. Most people assume that disgruntled workers are usually the culprit. However, that is not necessarily the case. As reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in two-thirds of workplace homicides, the attacker has no known personal relationship with the victims. Furthermore, most assailants who are employees commit workplace violence due to something else going on in their lives. Some of the more typical reasons for workplace violence are mental illness, drug abuse, divorce, or perceived personal failure.
Close to half of all workplace violence happens in a public environment. It is virtually impossible to work on solving the issue of violence in the workplace when most companies do not see it as a problem. The estimated cost of a workplace homicide to the employer is a whopping $800,000.00. It is safe to say that it would be less expensive to take action against workplace violence. Moreover, did you know that 27% of businesses have experienced at least one violent workplace incident within the last five years?
What are Some of the Indicators and Risk Factors for Violence in the Workplace?
There are several signs and risk factors for workplace violence. Researchers have configured and identified a list of factors that may increase the possibility of violence in the workplace. However, the good news is if employers pay attention to the warning signs and risk factors, they can address the problem issues beforehand.
Risk Factors for Violence in the Workplace from an Outside Assailant
- Working alone or in an isolated area
- Where alcohol is of service
- Working late at night
- Working in high crime rate areas
- An environment where money is being exchanged with the public
Indicators for Violence in the Workplace as a Whole
- Verbal threats to other employees
- Displaying paranoia
- A fascination with violence
- Bizarre behaviors
- Being unreasonable
- Irresponsible actions
- A vindictive nature
- Chronic depression
- Substance / Alcohol Abuse
- Changes in performance
15 of Many Surprising and Devastating Acts of Violence in the Workplace
The threat of violence in the workplace is real. Moreover, these statistics validate the reality that violence in the workplace is often a deadly incident that can happen to any business.
For example, one of the earliest workplace shootings was on September 14, 1989. A disgruntled worker, Joseph Wesbecker, riddled with rage and mental illness, brought an AK-47 into Standard-Gravure printing plant in Louisville, Kentucky. He then killed eight employees before killing himself.
- January 6, 2017 — Esteban Santiago-Ruiz, 26, began shooting in the terminal 2 baggage claim area of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The shooter started shooting individuals as he was leaving the restroom, which is where he loaded his gun. When he ran out of ammunition, he dropped the floor. Five people were killed, eight people were wounded. The shooter surrendered to law enforcement.
- January 21, 2017 – An unnamed assailant entered a jewelry store in Henderson, Nevada, brandishing a firearm. The store security guard fired his weapon and missed the assailant, hitting the store employee. The employee later died in the hospital. The suspect is still at large.
- April 10, 2017 – Cedric Anderson, 53, walked into his estranged wife’s special education classroom in San Bernadino, California, and opened fire, killing his estranged wife and one of her students. Another student was injured. Anderson committed suicide before police arrived. Police speculate the students that were hit were merely innocent bystanders.
- April 25, 2017 – Matthew Kempf, 60, went to his workplace and shot and killed his supervisor. Kempf later committed suicide.
- May 12, 2017 – Thomas Hartless, 43, entered an Ohio nursing home and took two hostages, who were staff members. Hartless later killed the two hostages and a police chief responding to the active shooter call. Moments later, the gunman committed suicide. The residents were not among the injured.
- June 5, 2017 – John Robert Neumann Jr., 45, proceeded to shoot five people in his former workplace in Orlando; one survived. Neumann had been fired from his job in April. He committed suicide before police arrived.
- June 14, 2017 — Jimmy Chanh Lam, 38, was armed with two handguns and began shooting inside of a UPS San Francisco Customer Center in San Francisco, California where he was employed at the time. Three people were killed, five were wounded. The shooter committed suicide at the scene when confronted by law enforcement.
- July 30, 2017 — Rick Whited, 54, began shooting from his truck at passing cars on Highway 141 in Gateway, Colorado. No one was injured or killed. The shooter and the police exchanged gunfire briefly before the gunman fled the scene. The shooter was apprehended by law enforcement at another location.
- September 24, 2017 – Emanuel Kidega Samson, a 25-year old Sudanese native living in the U.S., opened fire at the Burnett’s Chapel Baptist Church in Antioch, Tennessee. Samson first shot and killed a parishioner on her way to the car. He then entered the building and randomly shot at other people inside. A church usher tried to stop the gunman; unfortunately, the usher was pistol-whipped in the process. The usher ended up getting his firearm from his car to confront the gunman a second time. Five other people were injured. The Tennessee FBI opened a civil rights investigation into the case.
- October 1, 2017 – Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire from his hotel room at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas onto a country music festival below, killing 58 and injuring 546. Paddock later committed suicide. Reports state he first shot incendiary rounds into fuel tanks at the nearby McCarran International Airport, but the tanks did not ignite. There is no known motive at this time. Reports state that the gunman was an active gambler with a “nocturnal” lifestyle with no known significant losses. This shooting re-started debates over gun control, specifically over bump stocks, which make a semi-automatic weapon fire as quickly as an automatic.
- October 25, 2017 – Jaylin M. Wayne, a freshman at Grambling State University, in Grambling, Louisiana, shot and killed two people on the Grambling State campus during the early morning hours. Earl Andrews, 23, a senior at Grambling State and Monquiarius Caldwell, 23, from Farmerville, Louisiana were killed. Caldwell was not a student at Grambling State. Witnesses state that the shooting occurred after an argument in one of the dorms spilled out into a courtyard between two dorms.
- November 5, 2017 – Devin Patrick Kelley, 26, of Sutherland Springs, Texas, opened fire on First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs during the Sunday service, killing 26 people. Reports state that the Devin Kelly had been in dispute with his ex-mother-in-law and had texted threats to her as recently as the morning of the shooting. Reports also indicate that while his ex-mother-in-law wasn’t in the church that morning, his ex-grandmother-in-law was and was among the dead. When the gunman left the church, Stephen Willeford, an armed resident then confronted and shot the gunman. The gunman served in the Air Force from 2010 until 2014, when he had a bad conduct discharge due to assault toward his spouse and child. The conviction should have made him ineligible even to own a firearm, but the Air Force didn’t correctly contact civilian law enforcement of the court-martial. Investigations are ongoing.
- November 14, 2017 – Kevin Neal, 44, of Rancho Tehama Reserve, California, opened fire at Ranch Tehama Elementary School. There were no deaths of students or staff because the school had an incident response plan in place. Reports state that the school staff activated their incident response plan and had been locked down only seconds before the gunman attempted entry at the school. The shooter had a total of eight crime scenes spread over 45 minutes. Police later killed Kevin Neal after a car chase.
- December 15, 2017 — Mausean Vittorio Quran Carter, 30, began shooting indiscriminately at pedestrians from his car after feeling from a traffic stop by a law enforcement officer in Baltimore, Maryland in connection to a triple shooting in the previous week. After a 30- minute pursuit, the shooter stopped. His girlfriend was communicating with him while in the quest with police, and she was able to run up to the car and pull him out. No one was killed, three were wounded. The shooter was apprehended by law enforcement.
- December 20, 2017 — Isaiah Currie, 20, began shooting in the lobby of the psychiatric emergency services wing of the University of Cincinnati, Ohio. The shooter fought and shot an unarmed security guard and fired several shots at a responding off-duty law enforcement officer. No one was killed. Unfortunately, there was one wounded (the security guard). The shooter committed suicide at the scene when additional law enforcement officers arrived.
Active Shooter Situations in the Workplace.
Proper planning and training can reduce injuries related to an active shooter incident. Controlling the impact of an active shooter involves many layers of security. Those layers can consist of an incident response plan, a panic button system, security staff, and surveillance cameras.
The first step is to know what to do in those critical moments. The first minute of an active shooter incident is the most important moment of your companies emergency response. Training and being mentally prepared to take action in a crisis can make a big difference. Furthermore, just knowing where all of the building exits and locking doors are located can help boost a person’s survival.
Moreover, there is no foolproof way to avert an active shooter incident. However, with the speed and accuracy of information given in the initiated alert can contribute to impact a positive result. Additionally, there is new technology available that enables mass notification to those who need to know about the crisis to increase the probability of a successful emergency response.
In conclusion, I encourage you and your staff to become familiar with the violence prevention and incident response plans for your facility. An essential part of violence prevention is to utilize those policy resources when you feel it is necessary. Report unusual or suspicious behavior to administrators immediately. Moreover, trust that “uh-oh” feeling when things just don’t seem legit. Practice incident response plans at least quarterly so that the training remains fresh. If employees have clear policies and procedures to follow during a crisis, they can protect themselves more efficiently. Hundreds people’s lives are lost every year to violence in the workplace. Arm your employees with the tools and knowledge they need to make an appropriate decision.
Still Unsure About Violence in the Workplace?
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