os sum 08/01/94 ISSUES 94-10 Violence in the Workplace....


ISSUES
                  in  Labor  Statistics
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U.S. Department of Labor                         Summary 94-10
Bureau of Labor Statistics                       August 1994

Violence in the Workplace Comes Under Closer Scrutiny

   Homicides in the workplace have gained prominence in recent years, but the motives 
behind these heinous crimes have been largely misunderstood.  While conventional 
wisdom believes them to be primarily crimes of anger and passion, recently released data 
from the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries point to robbery as the primary 
motive.  And that census further shows that handling money at work during evening hours 
can heighten the risk of becoming a homicide statistic.

   The BLS Census counted 1,063 work-related homicides in 1993, its second year in 
operation.  The accompanying chart depicts these homicides from three perspectives: 
Motive, primary work activity, and time of incident.  It shows that a clear majority of 
those tragic deaths happened during a robbery.  Often they occurred in places we visit 
almost every day: Restaurants, convenience and grocery stores, and gas stations.  Many 
were committed well into the evening hours when few customers and employees were 
around to witness the incident.  Under similar conditions, some taxicab drivers also fell 
victim to deadly nocturnal attacks.

   Homicide was, by far, the leading manner in which women were fatally injured on the 
job.  Deadly violence took the lives of 188 women workers in 1993, or about 40 percent 
of the 481 women fatally injured that year.  Women homicide victims worked at a variety 
of jobs, including cashiers, innkeepers, store owners, waitresses, and office clerks. 

Other violence at work

   Besides profiling homicides, BLS recently began surveying the number of nonfatal 
assaults and acts of violence in private workplaces that required injured wage and salary 
workers to take off a workday or more.  In 1992, about 22,400 of such incidents were 
reported, each requiring, on average, about 5 days away from work to recuperate.

   The accompanying table shows that the way nonfatal violent incidents occurred differed 
markedly from the pattern for work-related homicides.  Shootings and stabbings, for 
example, accounted for about 5 percent of nonfatal cases but they were about 90 percent 
of all homicides counted in both the 1992 and 1993 BLS Census.  Still, some shooting and 
stabbing survivors might have been only inches away from being counted in the 1992 BLS 
Census.  Instead, they required, on average, 5 to 6 weeks away from work for their 
wounds to heal.  Victims of shootings and stabbings, both fatal and nonfatal; 
overwhelmingly were men.

   A sizable proportion of the victims of nonfatal violence were caregivers in nursing 
homes and hospitals.  Ironically, some of these workers were injured by intransigent 
patients, who resisted their assistance; others were assaulted by patients prone to violence.  
Most of these caregivers were female nurses and their aides.  And typically they required 
about 3 to 5 days away from work to recuperate from their injuries.

   For more information on the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries and its 
companion annual survey of disabling (lost worktime) injuries and illnesses, contact the 
Office of Safety, Health and Working Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2 
Massachusetts Ave. NE., Room 3180, Washington DC 20212-0001, (202) 606-6170.

   Information on this report is available to sensory impaired individuals upon request.  
Voice phone: (202) 606-7828, TDD phone (202) 606-5897, TDD message referral phone: 
1-800-326-2577.

Assaults and other violent acts resulting in days away from work, selected characteristics,
private industry, 1992
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                                                                     Total          Women as a       Median days
 Violent act                                                         cases          percent of        away from
                                                                                      total             work
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      Total, violent acts by persons........................         22,396            56                 5
Hitting/kicking/beating.....................................         10,425            55                 5
Squeezing/pinching/scratching/twisting......................          2,457            84                 4
Biting......................................................            901            53                 3
Stabbing....................................................            598             7                28
Shooting....................................................            560             3                30
All other specified acts (e.g., rape threats)...............          5,157            60                 5
Unspecified acts............................................          2,301            46                 6
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NOTE:  The original issue, including its chart, is available upon request at the BLS telephone number listed above.