Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 26 August 2008
Workplace homicides rose 13 percent to 610 in 2007 after reaching a series low of 540 in 2006.
Even with the increase, workplace homicides have declined 44 percent from the high of 1,080 reported in 1994.
Workplace homicides involving police officers and supervisors of retail sales workers both saw substantial increases in 2007.
Source: Mark Washington, Policy and Practice, Vol. 66 no. 2, June 2008
A former social service worker tells what it is like to be in the field facing the possibility of violence.
Source: Policy and Practice, Vol. 66 no. 2, June 2008
In August 2004, Teri Zenner, a Kansas mental health worker, was killed during a home visit to one of her clients. Her husband, Matt, has made a personal quest to tell Teri's story and told "Policy & Practice" why he wants to raise the issue of public human service worker safety to a national level.
Source: Mark Washington, Policy and Practice, Vol. 66 no. 2, June 2008
Kentucky had developed an incident reporting system that replaced the outdated paper method of recording incidents and verbal or physical threats of violence by clients. The new system enables staff at all levels to review the incident and diagnose the leading causes.
Source: Stephen R. Fox, Donna Harmon, Policy and Practice, Vol. 66 no. 2, June 2008
There is no national repository of data about violence against human service workers. Yet this issue touches on the single, most overwhelmingly, deeply personal tragedy of life. In this case, the violence includes the killing of those who serve by those who are served.
Source: Michael Fielding, Public Works Magazine, Vol. 139 no. 9, August 1, 2008
Focusing on service in a cynical world.
Although the average citizen thinks public safety employees face the most danger in serving the community, the editors of PUBLIC WORKS suspected that public works employees are equally vulnerable--if not more so. To confirm our belief, we asked readers if they'd ever felt threatened, whether the situation was resolved to the satisfaction of both parties, and how department operations may have changed as a result.
Source: Richard Hader, Nursing Management, Vol. 38 no. 7, July 2008
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Unsettling findings: Employee safety isn't the norm in our healthcare settings.
Working in Canadian long-term care is dangerous. But it need not be. This study shows that, while Canadians working in long-term facility care experience violence virtually every day, this is not the case in Nordic countries. Clearly, the high level of violence in Canadian facilities is not a necessary feature of work in long-term care and can be reduced.
This report on the violence experienced by personal support workers draws on an international study comparing long-term, facility-based care across three Canadian provinces (Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Ontario) and four Nordic European countries (Demark, Finland, Norway and Sweden). It is supported by focused discussions and offers insight into long-term care from the perspective of workers.
Source: John J. Matchulat, Employee Relations Law Journal, Vol. 33, no. 2, Autumn 2007
Consultants, attorneys, and others have publicized some alarming information concerning the extent of violence in the nation’s workplaces. Yet, there is often a vast disparity in the statistics covering seemingly identical types of violence, depending on the author and his or her sources of data. Consequently, observations and conclusions as to the nature and extent of workplace violence vary significantly. Additionally, some generalized statements made about workplace violence, not based on statistical data, convey somewhat confusing and misleading conclusions. This article reconciles the varying statistical information as well as provides insight into whether some commonly-held views about workplace violence are fact, fiction, or possess elements of both.