Definition

• Workplace violence is not limited to homicides but includes "any physical assault, threatening behavior or verbal abuse occurring in the work setting...beatings, stabbings, suicides, shootings, rapes, near suicides, (and, but not limited to) psychological traumas..." as defined by the National Institute for Occupational Safety. It is considered workplace violence whether the offense is committed by a stranger, a customer or client, a co-worker, or a person of personal relation to the employee assaulted, as long as it occurs on the drive to or from work, or during work hours.
  
  

Facts

• According to the Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) "Workplace murder is the leading killer of working females (35 percent) and the second leading killer of males." OSHA lists the following factors as likely to increase the chance of workplace violence: Any job involving exchange of money with the public, working alone or in small numbers, working late at night or early in the morning, working in high crime areas, any job guarding valuable property or possessions, or working in community settings.
  
  

Prevention

• Employers must develop a workplace violence prevention program customized to its company's specific risks, taking into account the location in the community, the work employees perform, and the available resources for addressing problems. This program must be written in terminology that is easy to understand and provided in each employee's first language. The employer must provide training for the entire company concerning the content written in the program. Employees should be involved in creating and implementing this program.
  
  

Function

• Workplace violence prevention programs are designed to lessen the chances that an employee will be murdered, injured, harassed, or abused in any way while at work, whether the harm is done by strangers, clients, co-workers, or an unsafe work environment (such as faulty machinery). In the event that someone is a victim of workplace violence, his co-workers may experience grief that degrades the quality of their physical and mental health and therefore the quality of their work and the company's functionality.
  
  

Solution

• Co-workers often become an extended family because of the many waking hours they spend building trust and relationships. If someone is a victim of workplace violence, her co-workers may experience not only sadness but anger, guilt, and anxiety. It is the responsibility of the company to realize that grief is a natural process that takes time to address. Allowing time for question and answer sessions about the situation, individual or group counseling and time off for funeral or other grieving processes will be beneficial to the health of employees and, therefore, the company.