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Patricia Perry

Professor Cheryl Zelle

MBA 535 Term Paper

02 February 2011

Escalating Violence in the Workplace

The global economic situation is spiraling downwards out of control and is causing

tensions at home and at the workplace. Consequently, workplace violence is escalating. In 2009

there were 521 workplace killings, 420 were with handguns (Rosen). There are signals that

people give who commit violence in the workplace. Human Resource Professionals are burdened

with the task of conducting pre-employment background screenings that identify individuals who

are prone to violent behavior. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OHSA) is the

government agency that has been put in place to make sure companies abide by safety and

healthcare programs to protect Americans. In light of so much violence and litigation, focus is on

the solutions for the problems.

In an article titled, “Alleged Reasons for Workplace Violence,” Chris Joseph names five

causes: stress, conflict, insufficient training, termination and lack of advancement. Stress is a

condition caused by people being overworked, constantly bombarded with news of layoffs,

unreasonable supervisors and problems at home. The combination or pressure from one or more
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of these problems can cause psychological damage. “"This can lead to violent outbursts"

(Joseph).

A survey conducted in 2007 showed that Americans work more hours than all other

industrialized nations. This stress is causing sickness, mentally and physically (Bernardin 496).

The cost of this dilemma is costing companies $200 million annually. Loss of productivity,

individuals not coming to work, medical insurance and accidents on the job. “Stressing out”

leads to violence in the workplace (Bernardin 497).

Conflicts between people of different backgrounds and beliefs, on a daily basis takes its

toll on workers. The clashing of different personalities and the unhealthy ways in which

individuals problem solve cause some people to lash out with brutal force (Joseph). It is

estimated that 1.9 million incidences of workplace violence occurs each year by employees and

ex-employees. Homicide is the second leading cause of fatal workplace injury in the United

States (Bernardin 490).

“Bad Bosses, Crazy Coworkers & Other Office Idiots,” is the title for one of a book

written by Vicky Oliver. The title of the book is intriguing. She is said to have helped over 5,000

people with 201 ways to combat intimidating situations. The book is comical in nature about a

very serious subject and should be recommended reading for HR Personnel. Ross Arrowsmith
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has a daily post and started the program, Preventing Violence at Work. He admits that it is next

to impossible for someone to prevent unsavory behavior but, at the same time puts the burden

back on Human Resources, saying that they have to “hire the right people.” Arrowsmith

contends that there are plenty of ways to gather information on individuals with the internet and

new investigative technology. This information might indicate whether individuals are a threat.

Arrowsmith also cautions that too much information (TMI) may be found and should not be used

for hiring preferences (such as information regarding disabled status). There are hundreds of

books on the subject of workplace violence and should be recommended to HR and supervisors.

The fact is, a stable person with no violence in his or her background may experience stress at

home and workplace pressures that could “push them over the edge.”

Leading questions that might indicate how a person would respond in certain situations

such as how a person may have reacted in the past may offer insights to the personality of an

applicant. A profile has been developed describing the characteristics of perpetrators of violent

crimes such as persons who have a history of violence, one who abuses drugs, a trouble maker,

one with little interests outside of work, and one who perceives unfairness, injustice or malice in

others. Characteristics include people who overreact to changes, a weapon owner, a person

recently fired, and individuals who make threats and disobey company policies and/or sabotage

equipment or property (491).

Haig Neville, “Dealing with Workplace Violence,” writes about one hundred murders in

a New York Times article which also gave several other insights to these troubled souls. It

advised employers and HR personnel to be aware of people who talk about weaponry,

individuals who are paranoid or anti-social, ones who feel that they are not heard by the
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company, they may express extreme desperation, have a history of aggression and are loners who

do not fit in with the group. According to the survey, the murderers gave multiple signs before

they committed the crimes (Heathfield).

Lack of training for employees to recognize when situations may become dangerous is

prevalent. Training of supervisors and administrative personnel regarding conflict management

is greatly needed. HRM will need to initiate classes that teach conflict resolution and make it

mandatory that all employees (especially managers and supervisors) attend. Employees need to

be aware of threatening behaviors of fellow staff members and bring it to the attention of the

Human Resources department and supervisory personnel, in confidence. It might be dangerous

for employees to be “outed” as a whistle blower or tattle tale.

Terminations of workers who believe that they have been treated unfairly are powder

kegs just waiting to be ignited. Options must be given to these individuals so they know that their

side of the story will be heard by neutral parties. Counseling programs should be made available

to these individuals so they are made aware of and possibly change attitudes and behaviors that

may hamper employment in the future.

Lack of advancement in employment is another way that employees experience

frustration. How many times has someone related the story that someone “outside” the

organization or a person with less knowledge was hired and they had to teach them the job in

addition to educating about the organizations’ culture? A lot of times the person, newly trained

will want to rid the trainer of their post once they have secured the job. This would be the

ultimate insult.
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Employers must protect employees from danger according to OSHA’s “general duty

clause.” This has become increasingly hard to do with 40 states now allowing citizens to carry

concealed weapons. It should be spelled out in procedure manuals that the policy of the company

does not allow armaments of any kind in the workplace. This is made complicated by laws such

as the ones in Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Louisiana that forbid employers from disallowing

employees to have legally owned weapons in their vehicles, on the employer’s property

(Bernardin 490).

The public should vote for legislation that would prohibit deadly weapons of any kind at

the worksite, which would include customers and employees. The sad fact is that upstanding

citizens would obey the law, but people with criminal intent would not. Therein lies the problem,

its catch-22. Self defense classes have been mentioned as program to be made available to

employees to make them feel safer (493).

Government offices, banks, retail businesses, grocery stores, and even the Mom and Pop

corner shops are now employing Security Guards at an all time high. Banks, retail establishments

that are open nights and social security offices are the most apt to be victims of workplace

violence. These statistics are probably because of non-associates of the businesses committing

the crimes. For this paper, the focus has been on employees who commit vicious crimes at

worksites.

One wonders why businesses do not invest in the walk thru metal detectors. The costs

range from $3,000 to $6,000 which is astronomical in most small business circles. Having

several door size models for a wide space (adding 3 or 4) would make the cost extremely steep

for big businesses also.

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http://www.walk-through-metal-detector.com/security-detector/walk-through-metal-detector.htm?

gclid=CKHMopXb7aYCFcG77QodgU6rFA

OSHA describes workplace violence as an action as small as a verbal assault to the

ultimate transgression of murder. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports incidences such as

the man in Missouri who made allegations in a lawsuit against the company he worked for, he

did not wait on the verdict, instead he killed 3 people and then himself in January 2010. A female

professor who was denied tenure at the University of Alabama killed 3 fellow staff members and

wounded 3 others in February 2010. A female was fired from a supermarket after threatening to

kill a co-worker, she left, came back and sadly killed the employee she threatened in March

2010. In August of 2010 the Army presented new policies regarding workplace violence in the

aftermath of the psychiatrist that killed 13 and wounded 32 others (November 2009). In

September 2010 a woman killed fellow co-workers in a Bakery Plant in Philadelphia. Half of

Emergency Room Nurses report being assaulted (Rosen). Females are feeling pressure and

committing more workplace violent crimes. New characteristics of perpetrators will be created.

HR personnel are shouldering a lot of responsibility. Sure, they can hire quality

personnel, but cannot control the day to day bullying, harassment and threatening actions that

may be going on. Policies declaring “zero tolerance” for primary or secondary violence must be
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reiterated (frequently) to all employees which includes directors, supervisors, co-workers,

outside vendors and customers. Safe places to report incidences (neutral parties) must be options

for witnesses and victims (493).

OSHA is busy writing fines and penalties for hospital employees who are being injured

by patients (psychiatric/disgruntled). They are writing citations for violations of health and safety

rules (miners killed in accidents). These actions are usually after the fact. A more proactive lead

should be taken regarding training and employment assistance programs (EAP’s) to ward off

employee violence. In this time of violence and litigations it does not appear to be a good time

for HR Professionals. All fingers seem to point to them when something happens. It is the time

for them to be involved in the strategic planning of the organizations. Bernardin also made great

suggestions regarding security, such as having police checks, arranging furniture for camouflage,

surveillance cameras, limited access to employee areas and most importantly reporting perceived

threats. The astronomical costs for companies directly related to violence in the workplace are in

the millions. However, the most cost comes from the loss of valued employees.
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Works Cited

Bernardin, H. John. Human Resource Management: an Experiential Approach. 5th ed. New York,

NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2010. Print.

Heathfield, Susan M. "Workplace Violence: Violence Can Happen Here." Human Resources -

Business Management Development Jobs Consulting Training Policy Human Resources. 4

Feb. 2011. Web. 05 Feb. 2011.

<http://humanresources.about.com/od/healthsafetyandwellness/a/workviolence_3.ht

m>.

Joseph,, Chris. "Alleged Reasons for Workplace Violence | EHow.com." EHow | How To Do Just

About Everything! | How To Videos & Articles. 23 Aug. 2010. Web. 02 Feb. 2011.

<http://www.ehow.com/list_6880453_alleged-reasons-workplace-violence.html>.

Oatman, Robert L. "Keeping Violence Out of the Work Environment." Workplace Violence News.

Web. 05 Feb. 2011. <http://workplaceviolencenews.com/>.

Oliver, Vicky. "Bad Bosses, Crazy Coworkers & Other Office Idiots." Workplace Violence News.

Web. 04 Feb. 2011. <http://workplaceviolencenews.com/books/books-2010/books-

2008/bad-bosses-crazy-coworkers-other-office-idiots/>.

Rosen, Lester. "EMPLOYMENT SCREENING RESOURCES (ESR) NEWS » ESR Background

Screening Trend 7 for 2011: More Workplace Violence Prevention Education Helps Protect

Employers and Employees." Pre-Employment Screening, Employment Screening, Employee

Screening & Criminal Background Checks. 16 Dec. 2010. Web. 03 Feb. 2011.
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<http://www.esrcheck.com/wordpress/2010/12/16/esr-background-screening-trend-7-for-

2011-more-workplace-violence-prevention-education-helps-protect-employers-and-empl