October 31, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Workplace violence prevention programs and policies

Over 70 percent of United States workplaces do not have a formal program or policy that addresses workplace violence.

[Chart data—TXT]

In establishments that did report having a workplace violence program or policy, those in private industry most frequently reported addressing co-worker violence (82 percent). Customer or client violence was the next most frequent subject of private industry policies or programs (71 percent), followed by criminal violence (53 percent) and domestic violence (44 percent).

While addressing customer/client and co-worker workplace violence the most, State governments addressed domestic violence (66 percent) more than criminal violence (53 percent), while equal numbers of local governments addressed domestic violence and criminal violence (47 percent).

In this context, "criminal violence" refers to when the perpetrator has no legitimate relationship to the business or its employees and is usually committing a crime in conjunction with the violence (e.g., robbery, shoplifting, or trespassing).

These new data are from the BLS Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program and are from a special survey conducted BLS for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The survey covered private industry and State and local governments. For more information, see "Survey of Workplace Violence Prevention, 2005," (TXT) (PDF) news release USDL 06-1860.

 

Related TED article:

• Workplace violence in 2005