Navigating Workplace Violence - A Managers Guide

Navigating Workplace Violence
A Manager’s Guide
by Tom Huskerson, B.A., M.A.

Knowledge Management & Security Solutions
Table of Contents
1. Definition of Workplace Violence
2. Categorizing Workplace Violence
3. Statistical Breakdown of Workplace Violence
4. Cost of Workplace Violence
5. Forms of Aggression
6. Workplace Violence and the Law
7. Total Organization Involvement

What do you know about workplace violence?
 What is it?
 How often does it occur?
 Where does it occur?
 Who does it happen to?
 How does it affect your employees?
 What does it cost your company?
 How will your company respond?
As a manager you need the answers to all these questions
and more to prepare and protect your company!

As a manager and supervisor the vital first step in
preventing violence in the workplace is recognizing the
signs and forms of violence early. Surprisingly many acts
of violence are preceded by both overt and subtle clues
that manifest sometimes over a period of years. It is not
until the violence is carried out that the signals are seen
clearly in hindsight. Early detection and prevention are
the most powerful preventive tools in combating violence
in the workplace.

Workplace Violence Defined
Workplace violence is any deliberate event
or action that results in concern for
personal safety, severe disruption in the
workplace or causing damage, injury or
death.

Workplace Violence Defined
The American Society For Industrial Security has created a
spectrum of violence in the workplace.
The Workplace Violence Spectrum
Behaviors Threatening Physical Death
of Concern Behavior Injury

Spectrum of Violence
Behaviors of Concern: This behavior is often emotionally abusive,
aggressive, hostile, and disruptive to the workplace. This behavior
creates an atmosphere of anxiety and distrust in the workplace and
has a definite negative impact on production and morale. These
behaviors, though cause for concern, do not necessarily lead to violence
but should be addressed in a direct and definitive manner.
(Source: ASIS)

Threatening Behavior: Can be described as words or other actions
that are intimidating, frightening or threatening to employees and
causes a justifiable concern for personal safety. Example of this
behavior is direct , conditional or veiled threats, stalking or aggressive
harassment.
(Source: ASIS)

Physical Injury: Acts or overt violence causing physical injury.
This includes non-fatal physical assaults that may or may no involve
weapons. This includes pushing, shoving, kicking, hitting and biting.
In its most dangerous form injuries could be caused by stabbing,
shooting bombing or other forms of violence that result in death.
(Source: ASIS)

The violence spectrum includes behavior that could lead to
damage or destruction of company property and threats that an
employee may harm themselves in the workplace.
(Source: ASIS)

Categorizing Forms of Violence
Violence in the workplace takes many forms but primarily
fall into one of four categories.
 Criminal Acts
 Customer/Client/Patient Violence
 Worker-on-Worker Violence
 Domestic Violence in the Workplace

Criminal Acts
Violence committed by an individual or individuals who
have no connection, interest or relationship to the
business or workplace. This violence is often perpetuated
in the form of a robbery.

Violence By Criminal Acts In the Workplace
A study conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
showed the greatest risk for workplace homicide is found
among males, the self-employed, and workers employed
in grocery stores, eating and drinking establishments, gas
service stations, taxicab services, and government
service, including law enforcement. Most workplace
homicides occur during robberies. In general, workers
engaged in an occupation in which cash transactions take
place are at greatest risk.
(Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

 Research performed by both the U.S. Department of
Labor and the Bureau of Justice Statistics reveal that
between 75 and 82 percent of workplace homicides occur
in connection with a robbery.
 Homicides occurring during a robbery in the workplace
are eight times more frequent than those involving fellow
employees.
 84% of workplace homicides are committed by strangers,
compared to 12.5% of all homicides nationally, according
to data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the FBI.

Who is this person?
The psychological profile of a potentially violent person
includes:
 This individual will demonstrate: Impaired reality; an inability to evaluate
the external world objectively and distinguish it from inner experiences.
Other signs include senseless violence, total inattentiveness to the
environment and be grossly disorganized.
 Schizophrenia- Acute psychosis, may include hallucinations, poor insight,
bizarre behavior (i.e. may think someone is controlling them).
 Major affective disorders- often present with delusions and hallucinations
and are often mood congruent (i.e. depression is accompanied by
delusions of poverty or disease).
 Paranoid states-Disorder characterized by delusions of grandeur and
persecution, suspiciousness, jealousy, resentment.
(Source: Southern Illinois University Carbondale Department of Public Safety)

Who is this person?
Other factors found in a potentially violent person are:
 Drug/Alcohol abuse or addiction.
 Depression-One of seven depressed people will commit
an act of violence against themselves or others.
 Pathological blamer- “Its not my fault!” This person will
not accept responsibility for their actions.

Who is this person?
 Impaired Neurological Function-These people may have
been diagnosed as hyperactive children, suffered brain
injuries and have less impulse control.
 Unusual obsession or fascination with guns, weapons or
death.
 Personality patterns become inflexible, impaired, and
unhealthy. The personality traits become disorders. These
people are very rigid and cannot be reasoned with.

Customer/Client/Patient Violence
In this category the act of violence is committed by a
individual whose relationship is that of a customer,
client or patient. Violence can occur while receiving a
service, care or conducting business. This form of
violence may occur as a result of a dispute or
dissatisfaction with the business or service.

 Health care workers experience violent assaults at a rate four
times higher than other industries; for nurses and other
personal care workers, this rate jumps to 12 times higher.
 A survey of emergency room physicians in Michigan found that
in the past year, nearly 75 percent had been subject to verbal
threats; 28 percent were victims of physical assaults; 11
percent were confronted outside the emergency department;
and 3.5 percent experienced stalking events.
(Source: Las Vegas Review –Journal)

In a hospital violence is most likely to occur in the following
locations:
 Psychiatric wards
 Emergency rooms
 Waiting rooms
 Geriatric units

Research indicate that violence often takes place during
periods of high activity and interaction with patients.
These include meal times, visiting hours and patient
transportation. Assaults may occur when service is
denied, when a patient is involuntarily admitted, or when
a health care worker attempts to set limits on eating,
drinking or tobacco or alcohol use.
(Source: Magazine of Environmental Health and Safety Leaders)

Risk factors for violence vary from hospital to hospital
depending on location, size, and type of care. The
potential for violence may differ from floor to floor. Most
cases of violence occur in the emergency room but
violence toward caregivers can happen in individual
patient rooms or nurses station.

Common risk factors for hospital violence include the
following:
 Caregivers work directly with volatile people, especially if
they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol or have a
history of violence or certain psychotic diagnoses.
 Working when understaffed—especially during meal
times and visiting hours
 Transporting patients
 Long waits for service
(Source: US Center for Disease Control)

Common risk factors for hospital violence include the following:
 Overcrowded, uncomfortable waiting rooms
 Working alone
 Poor environmental design
 Inadequate security
 Lack of staff training and policies for preventing and managing
crises with potentially volatile patients

Common risk factors for hospital violence include the
following:
 Drug and alcohol abuse
 Access to firearms
 Unrestricted movement of the public
 Poorly lit corridors, rooms, parking lots, and other areas

Warning Signs of a Violent Customer
 Loitering around the worksite
 Agitation and/or uneasiness
 Inability to make eye contact
 Unexplained interest in your work activities and
policies
 Threatening language and/or actions
 History of violent behavior

Violent customers are another concern in the workplace.
Violence from angry or dissatisfied customers is a danger to
your employees. Anger and frustration are often the source of
customer violence.
(Source: www.workplace-violence-hq.com)

Fatal Injury Events by Gender 2008
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Fire and explosions
Contact with objects and
equipment
Falls
Exposure to harmful substances
or environments
Homicides
Highway incidents
Female
Male
(Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics 2009)
A higher percentage of fatal work injuries to women resulted from highway incidents
and homicides than to men. A higher percentage of fatal work injuries to men resulted from falls, exposure
to harmful substances or environments, contacts with objects and equipment and fire and explosions.

Who is vulnerable?
According to research performed by Northern Illinois
University “boundary spanners” or employees that bridge
the gap between the organization members or the
organization and the public are most vulnerable. Most at
risk within this group are those that must deal directly
with the mentally ill, emotionally disturbed and poverty
stricken groups and those that handle cash.

Boundary Spanners are more likely to experience verbal or
physical harassment than other employees.
“Most often the perpetrators of that violence were customers,
who accounted for 65 percent of all verbal abuse (yelling,
name calling, etc.) and 83 percent of all physical abuse
(pushing, hitting, etc).”
(Source: Northern Illinois University Press Release)

There are a combination of factors leading to
customer violence. These are:
 Personality
 Emotional State
 Environmental factors.
 Employee attitude.

What Triggers Customer Violence?
 Extreme Waiting
 Waiting to board or onboard aircraft.
 Waiting for a promised or item already paid for.
 Waiting in an uncomfortable environment, hot, cold,
crowded. Etc.

What Triggers Customer Violence?
 Repeatedly being given inconsistent or incorrect information.
 Customer service that passes them from one person to another.
 Poor communication from the boundary spanners.
 Poor explanation of policies or alternatives.
 Careless attitude.
 Divided attention, talking on the phone while dealing with a customer.
None of these factors alone or in combination should be seen as automatic
triggers to violence.

Personal Anger Escalation
Calm
Agitated
Verbally Hostile
Verbally Threatening
Physically Threatening
Critical Event
(Source: Ohio Division of Safety & Hygiene)

Worker-on-Worker Violence
These acts of violence are rooted in the employment
relationship. Violence in this category are sometimes
committed by current or former employees and
target fellow employees and supervisors.

Certain behaviors should raise warning flags to
supervisors, managers and employees. There is no
specific behavior to indicate whether someone will or will
not commit a violent act. Rather the study of violence
and risk assessment involves investigating the full range
of factors and circumstances. This includes an employees
motives, intents, and actions. What he or she perceives to
be at risk in a given situation. However, behavioral
warning signs can alert supervisors, managers and
employees to potential issues that require investigation
and perhaps preventive action.

Warning Signs of a Potentially Violent Employee
 Threats, threatening behavior, frequent aggressive outbursts,
or excessive displays of temper.
 A history of threats or violent acts.
 Ominous fascination with weapons and/or references to
weapons, violent media content, or violent events.
 Verbal abuse of coworkers and customers, or harassment
through phone calls or e-mails.
 Bizarre comments or behavior, especially if it includes violent
content.
(Source: ASIS Workplace Violence)

Warning Signs of a Potentially Violent Employee
 Holding grudges, inability to handle criticism, habitually
making excuses, and blaming others.
 Chronic, hypersensitive complaints about persecution or
injustice.
 Making jokes or offensive comments about violent acts.

Dangerous Ingredients
Toxic Work
Environment
Troubled
Employee
Trigger
Event
(Source: Ohio Division of Safety & Hygiene)

These behaviors may come in concert with poor job
performance and associated problems, such as inconsistent
productivity, excessive tardiness and absenteeism, and poor
relations with co-workers. The possibility of violence may
increase if, resulting from the employee’s actions, the
employee faces termination, demotion, other disciplinary
action and accompanying stress, or is made to feel devalued
(for example, by being harshly reprimanded by a supervisor).

The Office Bully
Bullying and Harassment are also considered forms of
workplace violence and deserve attention.
Workplace bullying is defined by the Washington State
Department of Labor and Industry as:
Repeated, unreasonable actions of individuals (or a group)
directed towards an employee (or a group of employees),
which is intended to intimidate and creates a risk to the
health and safety of the employee(s).

The Office Bully
Examples of bullying may include:
•Unwarranted or invalid criticism.
•Blame without factual justification.
•Being treated differently than the rest of your work group.
•Being sworn at.
•Exclusion or social isolation.
•Being shouted at or being humiliated.
•Being the target of practical jokes.
•Excessive monitoring.
(Source: Washington State Department of Labor and Industry)

The Office Bully
•1 in 10 U.S. workers report feeling bullied at work, and 1 in 4
report working in extremely hostile environments.
(Source: Communication Currents Article 2008)
•About 37 percent of the U.S. work force — or 54 million
workers report they have been bullied at work, and 12 percent
see it and are vicariously made miserable.
(Source: The Salt Lake Tribune Article The Bully at Work; August 2009)
•According to the Level Playing Field Institute, over 2 million
managers and professionals flee their jobs every year due
solely to unfairness, including bullying.
•That exodus of 2 million workers cost businesses (and our
economy) $64 billion, says the Level Playing Field Institute.

The Office Bully
Types of workplace bullying.
•Serial bullying - the source of all dysfunction can be traced to one
individual, who picks on one employee after another and destroys
them, then moves on. Probably the most common type of bullying.
•Secondary bullying - the pressure of having to deal with a serial
bully causes the general behavior to decline and sink to the lowest
level.
•Pair bullying - this takes place with two people, one active and
verbal, the other often watching and listening.
(Source: Bullying What Is It? By Tim Field, Staffordshire University UK)

The Office Bully
•Residual bullying - after the serial bully has left or been fired, the behavior
continues. It can go on for years.
•Legal bullying - the bringing of a vexatious legal action to control and punish a
person. It is one of the nastiest forms of bullying.
•Pressure bullying or unwitting bullying - having to work to unrealistic time
scales and/or inadequate resources.
•Corporate bullying - where an employee abuses an employee with impunity,
knowing the law is weak and the job market is soft.

The Office Bully
•Gang bullying or group bullying - is a serial bully with colleagues. Gangs
can occur anywhere, but flourish in corporate bullying climates. It is often
called mobbing and usually involves scapegoating and victimization.
•Vicarious bullying - two parties are encouraged to fight. This is the
typical "Triangulation" where the aggression gets passed around.
•Regulation bullying - where a serial bully forces their target to comply
with rules, regulations, procedures or laws regardless of their
appropriateness, applicability or necessity.

The Office Bully
•Organizational bullying - a combination of pressure bullying and corporate
bullying. Occurs when an organization struggles to adapt to changing markets,
reduced income, cuts in budgets, imposed expectations and other extreme
pressures.
•Institutional bullying - entrenched and is accepted as part of the culture.
•Institutional bullying - entrenched and is accepted as part of the culture.

The Office Bully
Corporate/institutional bullying
occurs when bullying is entrenched in an organization and
becomes accepted as part of the workplace culture.

The Office Bully
Examples of Institutional/Corporate bullying may include:
• Placing unreasonable expectations on employees, where
failure to meet those expectations means making life
unpleasant (or dismissing) anyone who objects.
• Dismissing employees suffering from stress as “weak” while
completely ignoring or denying potential work-related causes
of the stress.
• Encouraging employees to fabricate complaints about
colleagues with promises of promotion or threats of
discipline.

The Office Bully
According to the Workplace Bullying Institute (2007)
women appear to be at greater risk of becoming a
bullying target, as 57% of those who reported being
targeted for abuse were women. Men are more likely
to participate in aggressive bullying behavior (60%),
however if the bully is a woman, her target is more
likely to be a woman as well (71%) .

Knowledge Management and Security Solutions
The Office Bully
•The cost of replacing just one $8 –per-hour employee can range
from $3,500 to $25,000 depending in the industry.
•The Orlando Business Journal cited an estimated $180M in lost
time and productivity to American businesses each year. The
Workplace Bullying Institute estimates between turnover and lost
productivity a bully could cost a Fortune 500 company an
astounding $24,000,000; add another $1.4 Million for litigation
and settlement costs.

Domestic Violence in the Workplace
This category is a carry over from a domestic
relationship. The perpetrator and the victim have an
intimate relationship outside the work environment
and involves abuse, harassment or threats.
Sometimes both victim and perpetrator are
employed at the same place.

The Office Bully
 According to the Level Playing Field Institute, over 2 million
managers and professionals flee their jobs every year due solely to
workplace unfairness, including bullying.
 That exodus of 2 million workers cost businesses (and our economy)
$64 billion, says the Level Playing Field Institute.

Violence In The Workplace By The Numbers
 More than 25% or workplace violence is domestic related.
 In a study of the experiences of battered women who worked
outside of the home, 55% reported battering resulted in
absenteeism, 62% were late or had to leave work early, 24%
lost their job and 56% were harassed at work.
(Resource: Center on Domestic & Sexual Violence, Michigan Department of
Social Services)

 1.7 million workers are injured each year as a result of workplace
violence.
 Workplace violence account for 18% of all violent crime in the US.
 The estimated cost American companies pay for workplace violence
is $36 billion annually which is manifested in low productivity, higher
stress, increased health care costs, absenteeism and turnover, and
violent incidents which result in litigation.
(U.S. Department of Labor)
 In 2006 an estimated 2 million us employees were physically or verbally
abused in the workplace.
 58% of senior managers have been threatened by an employee.
(Source:Non profit Risk Management Center)
(Source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and Bureau of Labor Statistics)

 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics workplace
homicides rose 13% in 2007 to 610 deaths from a low of 540 in
2006.
 Homicides in the workplace rose 13 percent in 2007. Even with
that increase, workplace murder has declined 44 percent from
the high of 1,080 in 1994.
 Workplace homicides involving police officers and supervisors
of retail sales workers both saw substantial increases in 2007.
(Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

 70% of US companies have not conducted a workplace
violence risk assessment.
 80% have no workplace violence policy
 74% have no intention of starting or implementing one.
(Source: American Society of Safety Engineers)

(Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Worker On Worker Violence
What are the signs?
As a manager or supervisor of employees these are the
keys to you need to identify the potentially violent
employee. You should be aware that any combination of
these characteristics or a single indicator should be
enough for concern and counseling of an employee. It
may turn out to be nothing. But remain observant of the
employee’s behavior and document any conversations or
counseling in regards to the employee’s behavior.

What are the signs?
Employees often give indications that they are potentially
violent. These signs are often ignored or overlooked.
Sometimes because managers or co-workers disregard
these signs because they are used to the persons
behavior and don’t take his threats seriously. This can
occur over the course of years.

What are the signs?
 Threats, threatening behavior, frequent aggressive
outbursts, or excessive displays of temper.
 A history of threats or violent acts
 Ominous fascination with weapons and/or references to
weapons, violent media content, or violent events
(Source: American Society for Industrial Security)

What are the signs?
 Verbal abuse of coworkers and customers, or harassment
through phone calls or e-mails
 Bizarre comments or behavior, especially if it includes violent
content
 Holding grudges, inability to handle criticism, habitually
making excuses, and blaming others
 Chronic, hypersensitive complaints about persecution or
injustice
 Making jokes or offensive comments about violent acts

What are the signs?
Managers should be aware that these behaviors are usually
accompanied by other unsatisfactory workplace behaviors.
The include:
 Poor or inconsistent production.
 Regular or excessive tardiness.
 Absenteeism
 Contentious or confrontational relationships with co-workers.

What are the signs?
Managers and supervisors need to understand that the
potential for violence increases in certain conditions. The
employee may experience stress under the threat of
termination, demotion, loss of position, or some other
disciplinary action. You need to be aware of the mental
state and attitude of the employee when entering into a
counseling session. Feeling of humiliation or persecution
may be strong and could be potential trigger to violent
outbursts.

Types of Aggression
 Verbal-passive-indirect (failure to deny false rumors about target, failure to
provide information needed by target)
 Verbal-passive-direct ("silent treatment", failure to return communication,
i.e. phone calls, e-mails)
 Verbal-active-indirect (spreading false rumors, belittling ideas or work)
 Verbal-active-direct (insulting, acting condescendingly, yelling)
 Physical-passive-indirect (causing others to create a delay for the target)
 Physical-passive-direct (reducing target's ability to contribute, i.e.
scheduling them to present at the end of the day where less people will be
attending)
 Physical-active-indirect (theft, destruction of property, unnecessary
consumption of resources needed by the target)
 Physical-active-direct (physical attack, nonverbal, vulgar gestures directed
at the target)

Workplace Violence and The Law
On June 7, 2006, New York enacted legislation creating a new
section of the New York State Labor Law that requires public
employers to minimize the risk of workplace violence and
ensure that all New York State public workplaces are safer for
the workers and the public they serve.

Navigating Workplace Violence - A Managers Guide

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