Premium Essay

Workplace Violence

In:

Submitted By meroromeo
Words 426
Pages 2
Problem definition:

"Workplace violence" it is violence against coworkers at workplace that can range from verbal abuse to physical assault, and ending by victims and or committing suicide.
Such violence prompted the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to label workplace violence a “national epidemic”.

Justification of the problem:

It is mainly due to job related causes leading to committing such violence at workplace, some other reasons might be included, like managers lack of awareness to at-risk employees, failure of security measures, and absences of antiviolence policy at workplace.

List of alternatives:

1. Providing effective security systems at workplace. 2. Regular employees orientation on antiviolence polices at workplace and the proper reporting system 3. Manager awareness training of at-risk employees.

Alternatives evaluation:

1. Providing an effective security system at workplace:
Security systems are very crucial at workplace and must be installed, like metal detectors and surveillance cameras, as it can easily detect weapons and prohibit its availability in the workplace, also monitoring every part of the working plant or facility, as it gives a chance for a proper interference of the security forces before the action takes place or goes more aggressive.

2. Regular employees orientation on antiviolence polices at workplace and the proper reporting system:
As violence at workplace is increasing and being considered as a national epidemic in the US, every facility should have antiviolence polices like the code of ethics and working rules. Also all employees should have orientation sessions included in the induction program just after the hiring process is completed, and those sessions must be repeated from time to time explaining to employees to report in such appearance of a hint of the employee

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Violence in the Workplace

...Violence in the Workplace HCA 250 November 24, 2012 Violence in the workplace has become so bad throughout each state and in the world today. Workplace violence has not only cost American employers in dollars but also in cents. The violence has been taking its toll on the employees day to day. There are beyond numerous numbers of nonfatal acts of violence in the workplace. Who would have thought that waking up in the morning and going to work would be so bad and targeted by violence, discrimination and even some retaliation at work? This has become so sad and disturbing. Now-a-days, children cannot even go to school without being bullied or harassed. The article that was chosen is called “Trends in the Workplace Violence in the Remote Area Nursing Workforce”. This is a very informative article that speaks about the types of violence and how it has increased within the last decade. The article has taken some of the present data of violence in the workplace and compared it to the data that was collected about 13 years ago. The setting of this article took place in Australia and was focused on a few hundred nurses whom worked in rural areas throughout Australia, who worked in the health facilities. According to the article it stated that there has been an “increase in all incidents” that were “reported violence in the workplace between 1995 and 2008” (Opie, Lenthall, & Dollard, 2010). Several times of violence that had been reported were either verbal aggression, physical...

Words: 1227 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Workplace Violence

...Workplace violence is present in every nook and cranny of corporate America, affecting millions of Americans every year. Workplace violence is defined by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, OSHA, as any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site. It ranges from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and even homicide. In 2011, there were over 2 two million reports and claims of workplace violence, with 458 being homicides1. Workplace violence is at the forefront of everyone’s mind when a breaking news story is broadcast on the evening news, such as the recent shootings in Santa Cruz, California by a disgruntled ex-cop, and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, but workplace violence can strike anywhere and at any time, and is a major concern for employers and employees across America. There are different types of workplace violence, which can be categorized as follows: (1)violence by outsiders or nonemployees, usually in the attempt of a crime, such as robbery or shoplifting, (2)violence by a customer or a client, such as a student or a patient, (3)violence by employees and former employees, and (4)violence by domestic partners, such as boyfriends/girlfriends and husbands/wives. Such categorization can help in coming up with ways to prevent workplace violence since each type of violence requires a different approach to prevention, and...

Words: 1735 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Workplace Violence

...Workplace Violence Case Study Walaa Essam, Group 52F ESLSCA Business School Workplace Violence Case Study Introduction This case study addresses the problem of workplace violence by analyzing two actual incidents which took place at two renowned multinational firms, which are “DaimlerChrysler’s Toledo, Ohio, assembly plant” and “Lockheed Martin”. The purpose of this study is to help finding a useful managerial tool to decrease the potential for future workplace violence that may lead to loss of life and unnecessary monetary loss. Managers are not necessarily equipped to develop appropriate measures to effectively deal with violent issues. Given the proper tool, managers can often work wonders. But we first need to look at how we define the problem of workplace violence. Generally, people think of workplace violence solely in the context of physical assaults or homicides. Many mental health professionals consider such a definition too narrow, and instead define workplace violence more broadly, such as "any verbal or physical assault or any violence that occurs in the workplace even if its source is not related to the work environment or any abusive, threatening, intimidating, or assaulting conduct against a co-worker whether physical or verbal. Such conduct can be seen in the form of shaking fists, throwing objects, destroying company property, written or verbal threats, swearing, insults, condescending language, hitting, shoving, pushing, kicking...

Words: 3282 - Pages: 14

Free Essay

Workplace Violence

...Grand Canyon University Predicting work place aggression against nurses in all hospitals NRS-433V 1/27/2012 Workplace violence (WPV) towards nurses is occurring more worldwide and in the United States WPV is becoming a major killer. Australia’s health care industry has been known to be the most violent. The workplace violence occurs in all areas of the hospital including the ED and mental health department and the health care setting seems to be more prone to WPV. Some examples of WPV are physical assault, bullying, verbal abuse, and different forms of harassment. In this study the researcher focuses on the perpetrator and the behaviors that might indicate the occurrence of workplace violence. The researcher also addresses skills that a nurse may use to help predict the possibility of WPV. Having these skills allows the nurse to respond to a situation early and possibly de-escalate the episode. The study occurred in a non-teaching hospital, 332 nurses in all areas ED, surgical, mental, pediatric, medical, and maternity were asked to participate in the study. The approval was obtained through the ethics committee in the case study hospital and university. The nurses received a letter stating what the study was about, a survey, and an interview consent card, if the nurse wanted to participate they returned the interview consent card. About 35 nurses agreed to be interviewed; they had to give written consent before completing the survey or the interview. The benefits...

Words: 811 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Workplace Violence

...Abd el Rahman Afify Egifix Medical GDGB15 Workplace violence 1. Definitions of work place violence There is No single, uniform definition for workplace violence so far exists. Different relevant institutions and researchers have suggested several definitions and classifications. The terms used also differ. 1.1. The World Health Organisation (WHO) uses a broader definition and defines workplace violence as ‘intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person or against a group or community that either results in, or has a high likelihood of resulting in, injury, death, psychological harm, wrong development or deprivation’. 1. ------------------------------------------------- Justification of the Definition * Violence is intentional; the definition excludes unintentional incidents. * Violence is related to the health or well-being of individuals. According to WHO, certain behaviours may be regarded by some people as acceptable cultural practices, but are considered violent acts with important health implications for the individual. * It includes acts arising out of power relations, including threats and intimidation. * It opens the field of the consequences of violence to results that transcend damage and death and include psychological harm, deprivation and wrong development. * The definition implicitly includes all acts of violence, public and private, reactive or proactive. ...

Words: 1353 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Workplace Violence

...eslsca business school | Workplace violence | Case study | | Mahmoud Ebrahem Ahmed Mohamed | Eslsca student 50 H | 10/15/2015 | Problem definition: Insecure work environment Problem justification: This problem happened because of the violent behavior of Myles Meyers and the weak security system of his organization. Plus Martin didn’t inform the supervisors about Meyer’s intensions. So there are three supervisors have been shot by a former employee. And this is not an isolated accident, but it is related to a series of violent incident. Two years earlier an employee killed six coworkers and wounded eight and every year nearly half of US workers faced aggression from coworkers, customers and supervisors. And this violence doesn’t affect the workers only but their families too. Alternatives: A. Selection and recruitment. B. Perfect security system. C. Monitoring. Alternatives Evaluation: A. Selection and recruitment:- This process must be firm and accurate seeking for the behavior of the applicant and the inner personality and look for beyond the outer character in addition to asking the applicant about his relations and his previous history. According to that, the qualified applicant in his field with good manners and good behavior will be accepted. This step will decrease the percent of violent employees. On the other hand it may make us neglect talented and professional applicants because of their bad behaviors. ...

Words: 397 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Workplace Violence

...people. In today’s society there has been more and more acts of workplace violence that are being highlighted in the news and media. Workplace violence is becoming one of the most talked about topics in organizational behavior. According to Nelson and Quick, “Organizational behavior is the study of individual behavior and group dynamics in an organization.” From this, one can see how any form of violence in a workplace can effect an organization and make one question the overall ethics and morals of the business and how workplace violence is a major topic in organizational behavior. In order to better understand workplace violence, our group decided to take a look at exactly how often work place violence occurs, past example of workplace violence, and how one might prepare themselves on preventing it at one’s job. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (2012) “Workplace violence is defined as nonfatal violence (rape/sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault) against employed persons age 16 or older that occurred while they were at work or on duty”. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) gathers statistics on violent criminalities against people in the workplace. “Attempts are included with completed victimizations” (BJS 2012). Between 2005 and 2009: Law enforcement officers, security guards, and bartenders had the highest rates of nonfatal workplace violence. Workplace violence accounted for 15% of nonfatal violent crime against persons age...

Words: 1753 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

Workplace Violence

...Workplace Violence According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) Workplace Violence is any act in which a person is abused, threatened, intimidated or assaulted in his or her employment (OSHA Factsheet, 2002). Workplace violence includes threatening behavior such as shaking fists, destroying property or throwing objects. It also consists of any expression of intent to inflict harm. It can occur at the workplace or outside the workplace. It can range from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and homicides, which is one of the leading causes of job-related deaths. Workplace Violence remains to be a major worry and recently the concern has grown due to several circumstances that have taken place. An assault or threat of an assault directed toward a worker on duty falls under the category of workplace violence. There are several issues that can cause workplace violence which include angered former employees, customers who feel wronged, stressed out employees or a conflict between co-workers can elevate to the point of a violent altercation in the office. Personal life does spill over into the workplace, and sometimes those personal issues present themselves at the office with dangerous consequences. Violence directed at employees has a great effect on human resource employees rather than any other kind of workplace violence. Since the manager or supervisor is the individual who usually informs employees that they are being terminated...

Words: 360 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Workplace Violence

...Workplace Violence: “Not Just A Shooting!” Leadership and Organization Behavior BUS 520 20 May 2011 Table of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………3 Introduction…………………………………………………………………..4 Summary, Article 1, Bullying in the 21st Century..….………………………5 Summary, Article 2, Intimate Partner Violence & Its Effects at Work..…….6 Summary, Article 3, Gossip – A Form of Workplace Violence (II)...……….7 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...8 Recommendation…………………………………………………………..8-9 Reference……………………………………………………………………10 Appendix, All three Articles..……………………………………………….11 ABSTRACT When we think of workplace violence, we generally think of that employee who goes into a business and shoots up the place; however today workplace violence can come in many forms! Bullying, Intimate Partner Violence and Gossip are just a few areas addressed in this paper. They say one out of every six violent crimes occurs in the workplace. No organization, regardless of size or type of business, is immune to workplace violence. Workplace violence is a daily occurrence for many people in today’s society and needs more attention other than when it reaches the news. “Far more frequent than killing rampages at the office are cases of workplace bullying and workplace assault. Employment experts say stopping these dangerous situations early can prevent problems from spiraling out of control or turning deadly (http://articles.cnn.com/2010-08-23/living/workplace...

Words: 2259 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Workplace Violence

...# 01 Worksheet Workplace Violence Version 1.0: 07 Jun 2013 Presented by: Hossam Bashir I. Problem Definition: Workplace violence is violence or the threat of violence against workers. It can range from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and homicide, one of the leading causes of job-related deaths. However it manifests itself, workplace violence is a growing concern for employers and employees nationwide, representing a real challenge for employers to provide a safe working environement for employees. According to specialists, workplace violence falls into four broad categories: TYPE 1: Violent acts by criminals who have no other connection with the workplace, but enter to commit robbery or another crime. TYPE 2: Violence directed at employees by customers, clients, patients, students, inmates, or any others for whom an organization provides services. TYPE 3: Violence against coworkers, supervisors, or managers by a present or former employee. TYPE 4: Violence committed in the workplace by someone who doesn’t work there, but has a personal relationship with an employee—an abusive spouse or domestic partner. II. Justification to Problem Definition: Statistical data and reports proivde a clear evidence that workplace violence is a growing threat nationwide. * According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 18,104 assaults and 609 homicides occurred at workplaces throughout the United States in 2002. Such violence prompted the Centers...

Words: 2883 - Pages: 12

Free Essay

Workplace Violence

...Violence towards Nurses in the Health Care Sector We have all heard before of the abuse and violence that happen in nursing homes; but what we tend to hear more about is how nurses are abusing patients, those being patients that are older, disabled and coming closer to the end of their life span. Patients sometimes receive such negative abuse from nurses, this consists of physical abuse which is defined as any action with the intention to cause any physical or bodily harm to someone; for example this would include a nurse hitting or slapping a patient or even pushing them around. You often hear about nurses neglecting their patients, this is a deliberate action where nurses deprive the patients of what they need, this includes a nurse that purposely withholds a patient from eating, drinking or giving them their medication ("Abuse in Canada's Nursing Homes", 2012). It’s quite sad to see how this action takes place in nursing homes; a nursing home is a place for the elderly to go to because they can no longer take care of themselves and they need the assistance in their day to day activities. The nurses in long-term care facilities are there to provide residents with the care that they need and require, as they cannot do it themselves. Patients will often receive mental abuse from staff, that is, an act with the intention to cause any emotional harm to someone ("Abuse in Canada's Nursing Homes", 2012). You often hear about nurses yelling or threatening patients; this seems hard...

Words: 4013 - Pages: 17

Premium Essay

Workplace Violence

...Louis Nuzzolese Technical Writing Dr. Andel 5/4/15 Workplace Violence Since the time we were born we are taught to lookout for the dangers of the world. We are also told the world we live in is an extremely violent place, and to be constantly aware of our surroundings. Everyone knows that at night some neighborhoods are especially violent and dangerous, thus we restrain from going out when it gets late. Everyone knows that you should be careful with people you’re not familiar with for these people may turn out to be treacherous and brutal. The focus of this paper will be homicide in the workplace. Homicide in the workplace is the second leading cause of work related death. We will be specifically covering the violence committed by employees and former employees directed towards coworkers, managers and supervisors. In the last few years much attention is drawn to a new kind of violence. No violence is new violence, it just hasn’t been seen much for a long time. This “new” type of violence that has just recently surfaced is workplace violence. Just as the name suggests, workplace violence happens while at the workplace and it can be a variety of things. This violence ranges from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and even homicide. It can affect and involve employees, clients, customers and visitors (USA).” Experts on occupational violence agree that workplace violence prevention programs work wonders. However, these types of programs only get results if a...

Words: 1357 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Workplace Violence Paper

...York University Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Workplace Violence in Healthcare By: Alyssa Mohammad - 210477172 Colleen Duncan-Reid - 209503145 Fifame Sonou - 208122467 Manjot Singh - 210688679 Course: HRM 3470 - Recruitment, Selection, and Performance Appraisal of Personnel Instructor: Dr. Souha R. Ezzedeen Date of Submission: Thursday, November 25, 2010 An emerging health and safety issue in today’s organizations which has detrimental effects on employees as well as employers is workplace violence. This type of violence can be physical or verbal assault. Healthcare organizations recognize that there is a potential for four types of violence. The most common of these four types is client or patient. This occurs when the patient, a visitor or family of a patient is violent towards workers or another patient. Type two is criminal intent which occurs when the perpetrator has no relationship to the workplace. Type three is worker-to-worker. This often includes the perpetrator either employed or previously employed by the organization. Type four which is often not recognized by employers is personal relationship violence (PRV). This type raises the issue of domestic violence in the workplace. The perpetrator has a personal relationship with an employee or a client and is trying to intimidate/hurt the victim through the use of physical force, verbal harassment or manipulation (financial or emotional) in order to maintain control over the...

Words: 1776 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Theories Of Workplace Violence

...INTRODUCTION: The workplace is viewed by most as a safe environment to engage with colleagues but too often is that view destroyed with the actions of violence. Reports of violence at the workplace are often throw to the side as if it had never even happened. These violent acts can range from something minute as bullying to physical / mental abuse and in some rare cases homicide. According to the National Safety Management Society and the National Safe Workplace Institution workplace violence can be defined as “as verbal or physical threatening or harming of an employee or client/customer of an organization by another employee, client/ customer or member of the general public” (Bruce, Nowlin, 2011). These acts of violence include physical assault, threatening behavior, or verbal abuse. Violence is a field that has been well established over time compared to its counterpart. Workplace violence has just made it to the big stage within the past fifteen years. Still being in its infancy, it is sometimes mistaken as aggression. Yes, violence can be a form as aggression but not all aggression takes the form of physical violence. Based on two variables, gender and field of employment (service related industry vs non – service...

Words: 2298 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Violence in the Workplace: a Case Study

...Contemporary Management Class 48A Violence in the Workplace: A Case Study Problem Definition: Rising rates of violence in the workplace have reached epidemic levels, causing distress to its victims, their families, and the businesses. Steps should be taken to prevent future incidents of this nature, however there is no clear consensus on the best method. Problem Justification: Called by some a “National Epidemic”, workplace violence now affects nearly half of US workers. The exact numbers may vary, but were stated by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as 20,000 assaults and 792 homicides in 2005 alone. Clearly, this problem not only has negative effects on the victims of these incidents, but it also affects their families and communities in both financial and psychological ways. It also affects the companies where such incidents take place in multiple ways. It can lead to loss of morale between employees, and can lead to financial losses by the company for compensation to the affected parties. Most importantly, it sometimes has serious legal repercussions, as in the case of the lawsuit against Lockheed Martin in the aftermath of the Doug Williams shooting incident. So what can be done to prevent or reduce the prevalence of workplace violence? Possible Soultions: 1) Installing metal detectors in the workplace. 2) Employee screening process during the hiring process to avoid hiring at-risk individuals 3) Early detection and...

Words: 537 - Pages: 3