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Reducing The Risk of Workplace Violence
As seen in Labor Letter, Fisher & Phillips, LLP By Kevin Duddlesten (Dallas)
Many employers do not consider violence to be a realistic threat to their workplaces, but workplace violence is in fact widespread and a source of significant potential liability for companies. This article will set out some of the facts behind the headlines and offer some suggestions for protecting your company.
Who’s Behind It? Survey Says: Everyone
On average, approximately 1.7 million violent crimes occurred annually7 in U. S. Workplaces between 1993 and 1999, accounting for 18 percent of all violent crime during that seven-year period, according to a U.S. Department of Justice study. In terms of lost wages and unused workdays, such crimes cost employers and workers more than $55 million each year, the DOJ reported.
A recent survey of American workers conducted by Professor Aaron Schat of McMaster University in Canada revealed that 6 percent of employees reported that they experienced physical violence at work, such as slapping, kicking or being attacked with a weapon. In addition, more than 40 percent of American workers reported acts of non-physical “violence” such as being screamed at, insulted, threatened with physical violence or otherwise intimidated in the workplace, the 2006 survey reported.
Co-workers are not the only perpetrators of workplace violence. Schat’s survey found that 25 percent of workers reported that customers, clients, patients or other members of the public subjected them to violent or psychologically aggressive behavior in the workplace; 13 percent indicated that their managers acted violently or psychologically aggressive episodes.
The Lawsuit At The End Of The Tunnel
Employers can face significant legal liability for not taking adequate steps to prevent workplace violence. For example, victims often sue their employers (or perpetrators’ employers) for not adequately investigating perpetrators’ backgrounds before hiring them. They also sue employers for not firing perpetrators after the employers had reason to suspect the perpetrators might commit violent acts.
Likewise, victims commonly sue employers for not adequately supervising perpetrators. These claims commonly are referred to as the torts of negligent hiring, negligent retention and negligent supervision.
Employer liability for workplace violence also is triggered by violent acts on property owned or leased by the company. In many states, premises liability law requires landowners and persons in possession of property to protect people who enter the premises from situations known to be dangerous. A solution may be providing consistent and adequate security for the employer’s premises.
Avoid Becoming A Statistic
Minimizing your liability requires instituting a multifaceted approach tailored to the unique risks of your business. Doing so is imperative to prevent workplace tragedies, minimize your potential liability and maintain employee productivity.
Begin by creating a zero-tolerance workplace violence policy that prohibits violence, intimidation, threats, verbal abuse, harassment, profanity, and other disruptive and potentially dangerous behavior. In addition to zero-tolerance measures, workplace violence policies should contain confidential reporting procedures for those who feel threatened and the company’s pledge to investigate all reports of threats or violence. Such policies and procedures should be updated annually and well-publicized among the workforce.
In addition, review job-site security and determine ways to minimize threats to workplace safety. This includes ensuring that job sites are secure and well lighted and that unescorted persons do not have access to the premises. You should also ensure that fencing on construction sites is intact, and you may consider installing surveillance cameras or Web cams.
Next, determine which employees and supervisors should receive training about workplace violence. This training should include how to identify early warning signs, resolve conflicts, de-escalate threatening situations and properly investigate incidents of workplace violence. Finally, evaluate whether you need to adopt additional procedures for conducting background checks on job applicants, (making sure to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.)
Investigating Complaints: Where The Rubber Hits The Road
When responding to employees’ complaints against co-workers perceived as potentially violent, be mindful of federal civil rights law. The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination in employment against people with disabilities—including mental disabilities that may potentially lead to violent episodes.
The ADA requires that employers make reasonable accommodations that would permit such individuals to perform the essential functions of jobs for which they are qualified. Of course, you need not accommodate a potentially violent person, but you must be able to show that the person is a direct threat to him or herself or others in the workplace.
When specific threats of workplace violence arise, decide whether to obtain a restraining order against the perpetrator.
Planning Can Help
Even the strongest plan cannot guarantee that workplace violence will not occur, so responsible employers should also consider a crisis-response strategy. This plan should include: identifying who will contact law enforcement and medical personnel; creating methods of internal communication during emergencies that will reduce the risk of harm without causing panic; establishing the chain of command during and after an emergency; arranging for counseling services if appropriate; and communicating with the families of employees, the media, customers and suppliers.
While you cannot guarantee that your working environment will be free of all violence, you should take steps to avoid or discover such problems before it is too late and significant liability results.
Violent Crime Up For Second Straight Year
A surge in violent crime that began last year accelerated in the first half of 2006, the FBI reported this week, providing the clearest signal yet that the historic drop in the U.S. crime rate has ended and is being reversed.
Reports of homicides, assaults and other violent offenses surged by nearly 4 percent in the first six months of the year; compared to the same time period in 2005, according to the FBI's latest Uniform Crime Report. The numbers included an increase of nearly 10 percent for robberies, which many criminologists consider a leading indicator of coming trends, The Washington Post reports.
While no one is certain of the causes, experts cited an increase in the number of young men in their crime-prone years, diminished crime-fighting assistance from the federal government, fewer jobs for people with marginal skills and the ongoing growth in methamphetamine use in some places.
Source: Security Beat
Giving Police Powers to Private Security May Solve Crime Problems
Private security guards have outnumbered police officers since the 1980s, predating the heightened concern about security brought on by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. What is new is that police forces are increasingly turning to private companies for help, the Washington Post reports.
Private-sector security is expanding into arenas once reserved solely for official law enforcement, such as complex criminal investigations and patrols of downtown districts and residential neighborhoods.
The more than 1 million contract security officers, and an equal number of guards estimated to work directly for U.S. corporations, dwarf the nearly 700,000 sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. For example, Wackenhut Corp. guards the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and screens visitors to the Statue of Liberty.
"You can see the public police becoming like the public health system," Thomas M. Seamon, a former deputy police commissioner for Philadelphia who is president of Hallcrest Systems Inc., a security consultant, tells the newspaper. "It's basically, the government provides a certain base level. If you want more than that, you pay for it yourself."
In one of the country's most ambitious collaborations, the Minneapolis Police Department three years ago started a project called "SafeZone" with private security officers downtown, estimated to outnumber the police there 13 to 1. Target Corp. and other local companies paid for a wireless video camera system in downtown office buildings that is shared with the police. The police department created a shared radio frequency. So far, the department has trained 600 security officers on elements of an arrest, how to write incident reports and how to testify in court.
When a bank was robbed in the fall, a police dispatcher broadcast the suspect's description over the radio. Within five minutes, a security officer spotted the man, bag of cash in hand, and helped arrest him, the Post reports.
The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services is also trying to foster closer ties between security companies without police powers and the police and sheriff's departments. The agency has begun training and certifying "Private Crime Prevention Practitioners" and soon plans to send security companies e-mails with unclassified Homeland security threats and crime alerts.
Source: Access Control & Security Systems 1/9/07
FACT: The first Super Bowl was played on January 15, 1967 in Los Angeles, CA between Green Bay & Kansas City. The score: Green Bay 35, Kansas City 10
U.S. Homeland Security Market $140 Billion
The U.S. market for homeland security services and products is worth $31 billion for fiscal year 2006 and will be worth $140 billion over the next five years, according to a recent market survey from the Civitas Group. At present, the U.S. government accounts for $18 billion of the $31 billion in spending, "which will ultimately result in revenue for contractors and industry serving the market," the report says. Private and "quasi-government" entities such as transit and port authorities account for more than $9 billion in spending, with local and state governments accounting for $3.5 billion. The report predicts that of the estimated $140 billion in spending over the next five years, 21 percent will be made by the intelligence sector. Law enforcement and counter-terrorism will account for 17 percent of the spending, and efforts to defend against chemical and biological threats will account for 12 percent. Meanwhile, spending by the aviation, border, port, and cyber security sectors will range between 6 percent and 8 percent apiece. The global market for homeland security, including the U.S. total, is $55 billion for fiscal year 2006 and growing faster than the U.S. market.
Source: United Press International (01/02/07)
QUOTE: "Action without planning is the cause of all failure. Action with
planning is the cause of all success." - Brian Tracy