September/October 1998
On-the-job violence has reached epidemic proportions. A workplace violence prevention program, however, can help minimize the chances of violence visiting your company.
By Eileen Zagone
Eileen Zagone is an associate editor for Scrap.
It may sound like something out of Ripley’s Believe It or Not, but it’s true: Homicide is now the second leading cause of death on the job in the United States, second only to automobile accidents. For women, it’s the number-one cause of death on the job. According to the FBI, workplace homicide is the fastest growing type of homicide in the country, with an estimated 1,000 people killed at work annually—or almost 20 people a week.
These homicides are largely concentrated in high-risk jobs such as police officers, security guards, cab drivers, convenience and liquor store clerks, and health care workers. But no business is immune. Violence can touch virtually any person in any position in any workplace—including the scrap recycling industry.
While on-the-job homicides invariably attract media and public attention, other less sensational acts of workplace violence—physical assault (which accounts for three out of four workplace crimes), robbery, harassment, verbal abuse, and threats—are far more prevalent. Most go unreported by the media—or even by the victims—making it easier for the incidents to be ignored. Still, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Washington, D.C.) estimates that 1 million employees are assaulted on the job annually. A Bureau of Justice Statistics report adds that in 1996 an estimated 1.7 million people were victims of workplace violence in general. The problem has become so severe, in fact, that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has deemed on-the-job violence a serious public health epidemic requiring priority attention from policy-makers.
Clearly, the issue of workplace violence can’t and shouldn’t be ignored. Rather than hoping violence won’t touch your company or waiting for an incident to force you into action, you can take preventive steps now to minimize the risks to your employees and company. And one of the most helpful, say experts, is a workplace violence prevention program.
Assessing the Dangers
The first step in addressing workplace violence is acknowledging that it can and does occur in the scrap recycling industry. But just how vulnerable is your company to on-the-job violence?
According to experts, a business provides fertile ground for violent incidents if its employees work: with cash and the public, alone or in small numbers, late at night or early in the morning, in high-crime areas, and around valuable material on site. Some or all of these conditions undoubtedly apply to many scrap processing operations, including yours.
That said, keep in mind that violence can creep into your scrap plant in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons:
Robbery. In one case, reports CNA Insurance Cos. (Chicago), a scrap plant manager was alone and closing the operation when three strangers accosted him, threatened him with a shotgun, and demanded money from the safe. This incident echoes findings by the Bureau of Justice Statistics that 60 percent of workplace crimes are committed by strangers to the victim, while 37 percent are committed by acquaintances or relatives of the victim.
In other instances, truck drivers, office personnel, and employees en route to the bank have been robbed at gunpoint. While the amount of cash stolen is typically small, the trauma and stress felt by the victim should in no way be downplayed. And, if an employee resists, there’s always the chance that robbery could escalate into homicide.
In one such incident, a female scrap plant employee was found beaten to death at the workplace. One of the firm’s laborers was later arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Police believe the woman surprised the laborer as he was attempting to steal the company’s cash register.
Employee vs. Employee. Tempers can escalate easily in busy, intense scrap processing operations, leading to violence between employees as well as between employees and management. In one instance, CNA reports, an employee, who was fired by his supervisor after a heated argument, went to his car, grabbed a gun, and shot the supervisor.
In still another case, a scrap plant crane operator was fired for repeated absences. When he returned at the end of the week for his final paycheck, he brought a rifle and fired several shots in the office before taking the plant foreman hostage. After an hour of negotiations, police persuaded the employee to release the foreman. An investigation found that the employee was suffering from alcoholism.
In other cases, tempers have flared between employees, leading to fistfights and attacks with knives, baseball bats, and sharp metal objects.
Customer Violence. Customers can also bring violence into your scrap operations if they have combative personalities, are dissatisfied with your service, or develop a conflict with an employee or other customer. And if you buy scrap from the general public, you’re more at risk. By opening your doors to everyone, you’re also open to all their problems, including irrational behavior, mental illness, and substance abuse. Training your employees how to deal with difficult customers can help prevent interactions from becoming altercations.
Personal Problems. It’s the rare employee who can leave personal problems and disputes at the company gate—and that can put the involved employee and the rest of your work force at risk. Maybe an employee has a substance abuse problem or is going through financial difficulties. Divorces and custody battles pose particular problems in that the estranged family member may find that work is the only place they can reliably locate their spouse.
Be alert to problems and distress in the personal lives of your employees that spill over into the workplace. Experts recommend that you give troubled employees time off to deal with personal crises as well as referrals to an employee assistance program, local social programs, or local law enforcement agencies, if necessary.
Spotting the Warning Signals
One way to prevent violent incidents is to notice warning signs and act to defuse the situation. To do this, however, you have to know what to look for.
While the profile of a potentially violent person is not etched in stone, there are a few seeming “constants”: a male between 20 and 40 years old, a person who has held many jobs for a short period of time, one who is a loner, guarded, defensive, depressed, and angry, with a history of violent behavior and an obsession with firearms or the military.
Experts are quick to caution, however, that this “profile” paints only a stereotype of a potentially violent person. In reality, virtually anyone could become violent under certain circumstances.
That said, experts also note that an employee who may turn violent usually displays escalating levels of disgruntled behavior. The lowest level includes spreading rumors and gossip about other employees and consistently being argumentative with customers or coworkers. The next level includes a refusal to follow company policies, continued arguments with staff including managers, stealing company property, and sabotaging equipment or coworkers. The highest, most threatening level of warning includes threats of murder, suicide, assault, rape, defacing property, and the use of weapons.
Supervisors should look for any radical behavior changes, including paranoia, excessive complaining or anger, and substance abuse, and refer such employees to an employee assistance program or mental health professional for help before they turn violent. While it’s not a manager’s job to diagnose or counsel employees, it is his or her job to prevent a troubled employee from doing violence to himself or herself, or others at the workplace. Hence, managers should handle the situation gingerly so as not to raise the bile of the employee.
Working Toward Prevention
While scrap processing facilities aren’t required by OSHA to establish workplace violence prevention programs, they do have an implied duty to prevent violence: OSHA’s general duty clause section 5(A)(1) obliges companies to provide a safe work environment.
Just as operational safety programs are implemented to create a safe work environment, establishing a violence prevention program can help achieve the same end. In fact, the elements of an operational safety program can be applied to developing a workplace violence prevention program. Before creating your program, however, it would be prudent to consult with your attorney or insurance carrier for advice.
When it comes time to create your workplace violence prevention program, be sure to include these elements:
Management Commitment. As with any safety program, the management of your company must be behind the violence prevention program 100 percent. Otherwise, your employees will sense the lack of commitment, and the program will be of little or no effect.
Management should first generate a clearly written workplace violence policy statement similar to a sexual harassment statement. Most firms opt to include a zero-tolerance clause for violent or criminal acts as well as for related threats. And whatever the wording, the policy should spell out the consequences for any threat or violent act.
It should also include a promise from management that it will support employees from any level if an incident occurs or if a threat is reported. To help in this regard, establish a chain of command or procedure for reporting threats or violence and make all attempts to assure anonymity and confidentiality. Some businesses—albeit usually only very large ones—have established anonymous phone hotlines for reporting threats or incidents.
It’s also essential to keep detailed records of all threats, incidents of violence, investigations, follow-up measures, and disciplinary actions. Further, establish a process to deal with grievances and stick to it.
Employee Involvement. To ensure a high degree of buy-in to your workplace violence prevention program, involve all employees in its development, experts suggest. Since your employees are so familiar with your facility, they’re a valuable resource in helping to identify just where the plant’s risks and vulnerabilities lie. They can also offer suggestions on what additional security measures can be taken to reduce risk.
Establish a threat assessment team composed of representatives from all levels of your company—from plant employees to scale operators to managers and owners. This group is responsible for developing violence prevention strategies, assessing hazards and threats, training employees to deal with violence, and implementing plans to respond to an incident. Security consultants, local police, your lawyer, counseling agencies, your insurance provider, and your employee assistance program can all be resources to help the team develop an effective program.
Workplace Analysis. The threat assessment team should conduct a comprehensive review of your facility to pinpoint areas and jobs that present particular risk. As part of this review, study all previous incidents of violence (if there have been any), looking for patterns or causes. Examine past injury logs to determine if any of those incidents were caused by violence. Consider the security of specific work areas and tasks, as well as building and plant security. Look for where employees are vulnerable: Can they signal an alarm if they’re under attack? How protected are your truck drivers? How safe is the surrounding neighborhood? Do employees, particularly women, work alone? Are employees who deal with cash visible to other employees?
Prevention Strategies. After the assessment team has evaluated your plant, they can develop strategies to minimize the firm’s risks for violent incidents. Among the measures you can take are:
- post clear rules and policies about violence in the workplace,
- post written visitor control policies,
- require staff and visitors to wear identification cards or badges,
- install an electronic alarm system,
- install closed-circuit television or other monitoring devices,
- install bulletproof counters and windows,
- keep available cash to a minimum and post a notice about low cash,
- use time-controlled or drop safes,
- install speed bumps to slow the flight of perpetrators,
- forbid firearms or other weapons in the workplace,
- install bright lights to illuminate your plant and the employee parking area,
- use a buddy system for bank visits,
- use reasonable care in hiring, training, and supervising employees, and
- continue to evaluate risks and preventive strategies.
Training. Training should clearly define workplace violence to include risks from inside and outside the operation, and it should emphasize your company’s zero-tolerance policy. Give a copy of the policy to each employee, making sure it’s written in language that’s easy to understand. Have it translated into other languages if needed. Explain the process to report threats, verbal abuse, or physical violence, as well as procedures for employees to follow if they fear a personal problem could escalate into a workplace incident. Ask employees to report hazards such as burned out lights and loitering strangers and train them on the proper use of security equipment such as alarms.
Instruct employees that, in the case of a violent incident, their number-one priority is survival. Train them to do what they’re told in the event of an armed assault, namely to stay calm during the emergency, avoid riling the person, notice as many details about the incident and the perpetrator as possible, and follow your emergency
response procedures.
Managers and supervisors, meanwhile, need to know how to best handle terminating, laying off, or disciplining employees. Also train them to assess the violent potential of a current employee and one that’s being terminated and to be tuned-in to low morale, tenuous job security, and increased employee stress—a major contributing factor to workplace violence.
Making the Program Work
Once you’ve established a violence prevention program, it’s essential to follow through on its promises. Accordingly, take any and all threats or violent incidents seriously, including veiled threats such as harassment.
Also, consistency is of the utmost importance. Once the rules are established, enforce them equally for all employees. Always follow the same procedures when responding to an incident, including chain of command during and after an incident, steps to determine the immediate safety of the workplace and the effect of the incident on employees and the plant, gathering information about the incident, and counseling for employees after an incident.
Of particular importance, employers can be found negligent if they fail to take reported threats seriously and an incident occurs. If you knew or should have known about a threat, a violent incident, or sexual harassment, and had the opportunity to protect the employee or prevent the incident, then you can be found responsible and liable. Consequently, it’s crucial to not only encourage employees to report threats or other problems that could lead to workplace violence, but also to have a program in place that actively follows up on and addresses all reports.
On the other hand, by establishing a workplace violence prevention program, you may inadvertently be making a guarantee or duty that can’t be met under all circumstances.
While there’s some good news on the workplace violence front—to wit, the number of on-the-job crimes in the United States has declined from 2.2 million in 1994 to 1.7 million in 1996—it remains an omnipresent danger. The best you can do is try to reduce the chances of an incident occurring at your company. And perhaps your best bet and most effective tool is a workplace violence prevention program. •
On-the-job violence has reached epidemic proportions. A workplace violence prevention program, however, can help minimize the chances of violence visiting your company.