The Virginia Tech massacre on April 16, 2007 renewed the focus on what steps employers can and should take to reduce the likelihood of violence in the workplace.

Workplace violence is not a rarity. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in 2006, nearly half of employers with over 1,000 employees reported an incident of workplace violence in the previous 12 months. In addition, a 2004 USA Today analysis indicated that an average of 25 people per week are injured as a result of workplace violence and there is one fatality a week from workplace violence. More subtle forms of workplace violence occur in workplaces around the country at astonishing rates.

What is an Employer’s Responsibility to Prevent Workplace Violence?

Although currently there are no specific Federal OSHA standards to address workplace violence, the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act), provides that "each employer shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees." Encompassed within this general requirement is an employer's obligation to do everything that is reasonably necessary to protect the life, safety, and health of employees, including the adoption of practices, means, methods, operations, and processes reasonably adequate to create a safe and healthful workplace.
In workplaces where the risk of violence and serious personal injury are significant enough to be "recognized hazards," the general duty clause would require the employer to take feasible steps to minimize those risks. Failure of an employer to implement feasible means of abatement of these hazards could result in the finding of an OSH Act violation.

What Policies should Employers have Regarding Violence Prevention?

More than 70 percent of U.S. workplaces do not have a formal program or policy that addresses workplace violence, according to the 2006 BLS survey. All employers – regardless of size – should have a “zero tolerance” policy against inappropriate workplace aggression and workplace violence.

The policy should provide that all threats are taken as seriously in the workplace as they would be in an airport, a school, a federal building or other secure location. Threats may be direct (“I’m going to kill you”) or indirect (“If I get fired, a lot of people will be sorry”) or in jest (“Someone should really take that guy out”). The policy should clearly state that any mention of weapons, violence, threats or revenge, even in jest, will be considered a credible threat and addressed swiftly.

The policy should also clearly state that appropriate disciplinary action will be taken when threats are made or an employee engages in an inappropriate act of aggression or violence. Employees should be notified in the policy of alternative methods of reporting inappropriate acts or threats that could lead to workplace violence. Finally, the policy should specify that employees who report situations that might lead up to acts of violence will not be retaliated against by the employer, their supervisor or coworkers.

However, it is not enough for an employer to merely have a policy against workplace violence unless that policy is consistently and uniformly enforced by supervisors. This can be challenging as an employee making an indirect or direct threat might claim that no aggressive act was actually intended, that the threat was merely in anger or a joke. Responsible supervisors need to routinely enforce their employer’s “zero tolerance” policy and address all threats as serious and administer appropriate discipline.

What are you doing with Violence Prevention policy and training in your organization? There is bound to be more legal developments in 2008.



About Lynn Lieber: Lynn D. Lieber, Esq. is a seasoned employment law attorney and a nationally recognized spokeswoman on harassment and discrimination law. Lieber is also founder and CEO of Workplace Answers -- www.workplaceanswers.com/Default.aspx -- a San Francisco-based provider of Web-based legal compliance education.