The Reality of Workplace Violence
Posted on Fri, Aug 13, 2010
Reacting to the incident in Connecticut last week, many news organizations have put the spotlight on workplace violence and some have even referred to it as an "epedemic." In reality, workplace violence has been steadily declining over recent years, though decent statistics for 2009 are not yet in circulation.
What is the reason for this decline?
- Better security measures preventing workplace violence?
- Greater awareness and prevention of violent acts?
- Better support networks or empathy for individuals having a hard time in a recession?
It's difficult to tell. But one thing we do know is that even though incidents have been declining, workplace violence is still one of the leading causes of death in the workplace. In fact, you're 4 times more likely to die in a workplace shooting than in a workplace fire.
For the security professional, it is still important to be aware of workplace violence, the warning signs that precede an incident and how to prevent it. To help you put the risk in perspective, we've developed this infographic based on statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2008 (the latest set of statistics available at this time). If you have another perspective on this, or additional relevant data, please share it with us.
Click above to download full size image.