Workplace violence is a phenomenon that can be experienced in many organizations. Every worker can be vulnerable to a kind or more of workplace violence. Employers have a role to protect employees from workplace violence before it happens and to make discussions with workers after any workplace violent incident. There must be some practices to ensure security in the workplace against violence.

1. 2011
Workplace Violence
Abdullah Alabdullah
Organizational Behavior
4/12/2011

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Abstract
Workplace violence is a phenomenon that can be experienced in many organizations. Every
worker can be vulnerable to a kind or more of workplace violence. Employers have a role to
protect employees from workplace violence before it happens and to make discussions with
workers after any workplace violent incident. There must be some practices to ensure security in
the workplace against violence.

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Table of Content
1- Introduction 4
2- Definition of workplace violence 5
3- Who is vulnerable to workplace violence? 5
4- The role of employers to protect employees 6
5- The Role of Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) in Workplace-Based Intimate Partner
Violence (IPV) 7
6- Employer-Driven Workplace IPV Activities 8
7- Taxi Drivers and Workplace Violence and Stress 8
8- Workplace violence at colleges and universities 9
9- Work Environment 11
10- Threats in the workplace 12
11- Reducing the risk of workplace violence 12
12- How can employees protect themselves? 13
13- Role of an employer after an incident of workplace violence 13
14- Conclusion 14

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Workplace Violence
Introduction
A great deal of attention was directed to explore the reasons and effects of workplace
violence. Many studies have been conducted to make an evaluation to workplace violence. It was
found that workplace violence is an irritating matter for both employers and employees and can
vary from a verbal threat to a homicide. Anyone can be vulnerable to workplace violence and in
the United States; victims of workplace violence exceed two million workers each year.
Employers have to show employees how to protect themselves from workplace violence. There
must be some practices to ensure security in the workplace against violence. The services that
EAP offers to companies are such as helping in the development of policies, providing training
and seminars to deliver education and awareness raising activities. It was reported that taxi
drivers are the most workers exposure to workplace violence in the last two decades and that
include police and protective services. Like any organization, colleges and universities are open
systems that are vulnerable to workplace violence. There must be a way to protect students, staff
members and faculty members from workplace violence. As organizations differ in many things
they also differ in being a place of violence or not, as some places and some situations can lead
to violence and bullying more than others and a bad and harmful worker cannot exist in a healthy
environment. Workplace violence is known for its effect on lowering morale so workers will not
be able to be productive; they will lose satisfaction in their jobs and will be vulnerable to health
problems. An employee has to learn how to control his temper and avoid any situation that can
lead to violence and that can come by training. The employer also has to make meetings with his

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staff members after an incident to discuss what happened and to exchange information with
employees.
Definition of workplace violence:
According to OSHA Fact Sheet, workplace violence is an action or a threat to make an
action of violence against workers and this violence can happen inside the workplace or outside
it. Workplace violence is an irritating matter for both employers and employees and it can be
little as a threat or verbal assault or can reach physical assaults and homicide which can be a
cause of job-related deaths. There must be a certain policy to stop workplace violence on or by
employees and employers must make sure the employees understand this policy.
Who is vulnerable to workplace violence?
Anyone can be vulnerable to workplace violence which can hit anywhere so there is no
definition of a certain place and can hurt anyone so no one can ensure avoiding it. In the United
States, victims of workplace violence exceed two million workers each year. Some workers are
at risk of being exposed to workplace violence more than others and from these workers those
who have direct business with the public like delivering goods or services or those who work to
late hours in the night or at early hours during the morning either they are alone or in small
groups. Also workers who work in areas that are known for its high rate of crimes or who have
very close contact with the public like social service workers or health care workers such as
nurses that make home visits, or probation officers must be aware of the risk. Community
workers such as gas and water utility workers, cable TV and phone installer, retail workers or
taxi drivers are vulnerable to violence due to the nature of their work that make them too close to
the public (OSHA Fact Sheet).

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The role of employers to protect employees:
To protect employees from violence there must be a certain policy to stop workplace
violence on or by employees and employers must make sure the employees understand this
policy and they must know that any act of workplace violence will be investiga ted and remedied
as fast as possible. This policy will control any situation arises because both the violent person
and the victim know their rights and the rights of others that must not be violated. The employer
can stop violence by making a prevention program or he can just add some information for
preventing violence in an accident prevention program, employee handbook or in a manual of
operating procedures. Employers can increase their protection plan by making educational
sessions to employees about safety issues and what they can do and can be accepted and what is
considered unacceptable action, employees also have to learn how to be aware of workplace
violence and know what to do if they experienced workplace violence to them or to any other
employee (OSHA Fact Sheet).
Employers have to show employees how to protect themselves from workplace violence.
There must be some practices to ensure security in the workplace against violence by using some
video surveillance and alarm systems and by making sure that outsiders’ presence is at
minimum. Employers can prevent outsiders by making employees carry identification badges
and use electronic keys. Employers who have employees that have direct dealings with the
public must make sure that there are drop safes to put extra money and to keep little money with
the employees who work night shifts. employers must also make sure that employees carry
cellular phones and alarm or noise devices if their work is outside the workplace and to keep a
report about every day’s locations, keep work vehicles well maintained and do not go to
suspected or unsafe places and seek police assistance in case of danger (OSHA Fact Sheet).

7. The Role of Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) in Workplace-Based Intimate Partner
Violence (IPV)
There must be a great understanding to the role of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
that involves intimate partner violence (IPV) but companies are not aware of that role which
stands as a barrier to execute their services. The services that EAP offers to companies are such
as helping in the development of policies, providing training and seminars to deliver education
and awareness raising activities in addition to assigning part of the management to the position
of staff consultants. IPV is a huge problem that has many consequences that victims are unaware
pg. 7
of (Lindquist et al, 2010).
From various studies made it became clear that the prevalence rate of IPV victimization
among women is considered high according to the National Violence Against Women Survey
(NVAWS) that found that about 5.3 million IPV victimizations happen among women every
year. IPV consequences are great in victims who can be physically injured or dead. There are
also other consequences that include physiological trauma, substance abuse, depression and
sometimes suicide attempts. Other IPV consequences are the societal costs that are huge and it
was estimated in 1995 to be about 5.8 billion dollars, most of this amount is directed for medical
and mental health care services, in addition to the lost lifetime earnings by IPV homicide victims
accounts and the lost productivity of survivals who stay at home and be paid (Lindquist et al,
2010).
Employers bear a great burden from IPV as it affects performance, productivity and stability
of victims such consequently leads to increased absenteeism, errors and time wasted and lower
productivity. Also a study was made on IPV victims from both males and females and it showed

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that they became distracted at work, coming late to work or wasting hours of work and
accordingly employers lose 8 million days of paid work every year due to IPV. In the workplace
there is always a threat to the victims who are under the control of their perpetrators who know
where they can find them, can abuse them and threaten their employment stability (Lindquist et
al, 2010).
Employer-Driven Workplace IPV Activities
It is becoming clear that IPV is an issue that has bad consequences on the workplace and
employers’ awareness is increasing as shown in a survey made in 2002 on some thousand senior
executives and managers whose result was that 66% of these leaders knew the devastating
consequences of IPV and its impact on the workplace compared to 57% in 1994 and about 56%
knew the employees that are affected and are victims of IPV. Employers are now as mentioned
before are considering development and implementation of IPV prevention activities to decrease
the impact of IPV on employees. A study was made to find the activities concerning IPV made
by private-sector employers, and it was found that some companies offered some preventive
strategies and policies that addresses IPV and prevent it, some educational activities and some
security measures (Lindquist et al, 2010).
Taxi Drivers and Workplace Violence and Stress
In many urban places the taxi cab service is vital and might be the only means of
transportation that is available twenty-four hours and can be find everywhere so it is easy to find
and can go to any destination the passenger wants. In 2002, there were more than 66,000 workers
in taxi and limousine firms that represent about 17% of all the workers who provide transport in

9. US and 45% of this number or more are working in cab companies. According to 2008-2009
data about 229,000 workers are taking cab driving as a job and they are distinguished from other
workers in other means of transportation by the level of workplace violence and stress that they
face during doing their daily work and through their dealings with the public. It was reported that
taxi drivers are the most workers exposure to workplace violence in the last two decades and that
include police and protective services. It was found that the highest rate of workplace violence
between 1990-1992 was 22.7% for each 100,000 workers per year and this percentage was found
between taxi drivers and in 1998 it was found that the rate of homicide for taxi drivers was about
four times that of police and law enforcement services and increased to be five times in 2002.
The media has played an important role to make people know the violence that taxi drivers are
pg. 9
exposed to but no explanations were found to explain whether behavior has a role in this
violence (Schwer et al, 2010).
Workplace violence at colleges and universities
Many research studies have been conducted to address workplace violence to develop
theories and models to better understand how WPV happens and it was found that WPV is
affected by many influences which can be personal or organizational and can include unjust
treatment and negative emotions of employees. These studies have helped organizations to know
the reasons of workplace violence and try to avoid them by implementing policies and
procedures. Like any organization, colleges and universities are open systems that are vulnerable
to workplace violence. No one is immune from being exposed to workplace violence and an
example of that, the difficult situation that happened in 2007 at Virginia Tech where there was
the most horrible school shooting in the American history where 32 people were killed and 17

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more were injured. There were many problems in handling this incident since there were
attempts from faculty members to draw attention to the problems that resulted to this incident
and were ignored by officials at the university and also the lack of canceling classes and slow
emergency response had led to a lot of criticism. This incident shows that colleges and
universities are also like any other organization vulnerable to workplace violence. This incident
was followed by the tragic incident of Northern Illinois University in 2008 which as indication of
the importance of considering developing policies and procedures in the campuses of colleges
and universities (Howard, 2009).
There must be a way to protect students, staff members and faculty members from workplace
violence. According to Howard (2009), the “throughput” in colleges and universities differ from
that in organizations since they are the people not the product or service that an organization
offers to its customers. Colleges and universities differ from organizations and what can be
applied in an organization could not be applied in a collage or in a university. So we can find in
an organization that they can control workplace violence by improving security and training
supervisors while this can be applied in some parts in college or university but they do not apply
for all parts such as in the classroom when there is interaction between faculty members and
students. Training cannot also be applied since faculty members do not work all time but they
only have to work set hours. These differences between a collage or a university and an
organization must be studied because most models concentrate on for-profit organizations. For
example layoffs will not affect students as much as they affect employees in an organization,
some employees can consider that they were treated unfairly and some students can also feel the
same way but the concept will be different. In college or university the potential perpetrator is

11. different since it is in most cases a student who believes that he is unfairly treated and could be
pg. 11
considered the main part of workplace violence (Howard, 2009).
Work Environment
As organizations differ in many things they also differ in being a place of violence or not, as
some places and some situations can lead to violence and bullying more than others and a bad
and harmful worker cannot exist in a healthy environment. Some people can take advantage of
others when put in a workplace where management is weak, they have the chance to practice evil
actions to control others, and they are driven by some biological, environmental and social.
Workplace violence is not limited to a place or to a certain industry more than the other but the
group working together can be the reason for a violent environment, coworkers can be forming
gangs that is not clear or they can ignore the violence of others or they can support it without
knowing which can lead to dangerous consequences on the workplace (Fisher-Blando, 2008).
Workplace violence is known for its effect on lowering morale so workers will not be able to
be productive, they will lose satisfaction in their jobs and will be vulnerable to health problems
that raise health- care costs and employers can face disability claims and lawsuits. Workplace
violence only can survive when using ideas from others and develop and taking the consent of
coworkers. Workplace violence can be reinforced when organizations consider that long service
and not performance is a sign of success. The increase of workplace violence is related to some
aspects such as not taking all rights like not having the degree that suits their work, having
trouble with the management and conflicts about the roles of workers. Workplace violence can
also exists when the organizational culture enables it especially when workers who are exposed
to violence are afraid to tell anyone about what happened to them, others who watch a worker
getting attacked and they stay silent and thus supporting the violent by their silence, or they leave

12. the place as if it is not their business On the contrary, employees who are satisfied with their jobs
and have social support at work are not likely to face violence by violence (Fisher-Blando,
pg. 12
2008).
Threats in the workplace
There is little done from most companies about workplace violence although it is the fourth
function that leads to death in the workplace and costs businesses billions of dollars each year. In
2004, a study was made and found that there are threats received by some senior managers in the
past year and some of these threats were in-person or through email and some said that viruses
were downloaded on purpose on their computers. Another study made that showed that
workplace violence is in most cases does not exceed inappropriate language, verbal threats and
abuse and in rare occasions can get tragic (Rich, 2011).
Reducing the risk of workplace violence
According to Dobbin (2010), workplace violence comes with no previous warning which
makes it difficult to stop it. Employers can reduce the risk of workplace violence by monitoring
any aggressiveness and drive conversations out of the workplace or with the presence of security
although some companies use pat-down searches and metal detectors but these methods can
cause lack of confidence in the company. One of the well-known examples of workplace
violence is that of the driver of a beer distributor called Omar Thornton who killed eight
coworkers and injured other two in the warehouse of the company in Manchester, Conn., and
then killed himself. Omar was caught by the surveillance stealing beer and he was going to quit
and he looked very calm and no one expected that he will shoot at his coworkers. That incident
gives employers the idea that they must make plans when firing employees and they must think

13. about how many people will be there, and take certain precautions because the violent person’s
pg. 13
reaction can be fierce and unexpected. Supervisors must be trained to always be nice with
employees and do not make them angry and words must be said calmly so they do not make the
angry person angrier.
How can employees protect themselves?
There is no known way that guarantees that employees can be safe and not to be exposed to
workplace violence but there are some tips that can help reduce the danger. An employee has to
learn how to control his temper and avoid any situation that can lead to violence and that can
come by training and also they have to be alert and feel responsible to report in writing any
incident even if it is small as soon as it happens and tell his supervisor any concerns about
someone’s behavior so he can ensure safety and make precautions. The employees have also to
ensure their safety when they go to unfamiliar locations and only carry as less money as possible
(OSHA Fact Sheet).
Role of an employer after an incident of workplace violence
An employer has to hold all threads together to keep the workplace environment safe and
suitable for productivity. He has to make good relationships with his employees, encourage them
to report any incident that happens or any threat they could be exposed to it and when it is life
threating they have to call the local police. Any injury happens must be evaluated as fast as
possible and employees have to know that they have the right to prosecute any perpetrator. The
employer also has to make meetings with his staff members after an incident to discuss what
happened and to exchange information with employees about what they know and what they are
supposed to do to avoid future incidents of workplace violence. The employer must provide

14. counseling services to help workers overcome the effect of workplace violence incident and he
pg. 14
must make investigations of all violent incidents (OSHA Fact Sheet).
Conclusion
Workplace violence is still an issue that must be addressed and prevented from taking place
in working environment. More studies are needed to find ways of preventing workplace violence
and make organizations a safe place to work and produce. Employers must have open
conversations with employees to know their problems and solve it to decrease violence.

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References:
Dobbin, Ben. (2010). Stopping Workplace Violence Difficult But Risk Can Be Reduced: Experts. Insurance
Journal. Wells Publishing, Inc. Retrieved from
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2010/08/10/112327.htm
Fisher-Blando, Judith Lynn. (2008). WORKPLACE BULLYING: AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR
AND ITS EFFECT ON JOB SATISFACTION AND PRODUCTIVITY.
UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX. Retrieved from
http://www.workplaceviolence911.com/docs/20081215.pdf
Howard, J. (2009). Employee Awareness of Workplace Violence Policies and Perceptions for
Addressing Perpetrators at Colleges and Universities. Employee Responsibilities & Rights
Journal, 21(1), 7-19. doi:10.1007/s10672-008-9087-x
Lindquist, C. H., McKay, T., Clinton-Sherrod, A., Pollack, K. M., Lasater, B. M., & Walters, J.
(2010). The Role of Employee Assistance Programs in Workplace-Based Intimate Partner
Violence Intervention and Prevention Activities. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 25(1),
46-64. doi:10.1080/15555240903538980
Rich, Mike. (2011). Workplace Violence Costs Lives, Productivity. Safety Services Company
Retrieved from
http://www.safetyservicescompany.com/blog/work-place- violence-costs- lives-productivity
Schwer, R., Mejza, M. C., & Grun-Réhomme, M. (2010). Workplace Violence and Stress: The
Case of Taxi Drivers. Transportation Journal, 49(2), 5-23. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Workplace Violence. Osha fact sheet. Osha.gov. Retrieved from
http://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_General_Facts/factsheet-workplace-violence.pdf