Any act of threat, physical violence, or emotional abuse is considered workplace violence. The statistics for workplace violence paint a grim picture. Millions of Americans suffer from workplace violence every year. Such incidents can lead to serious injuries that can have a long-lasting impact on the victims and their families. Workplace violence can be physiological or psychological injuries in nature. Let us explore some of the statistics and consequences of workplace violence.
Types of Workplace Violence
Workplace violence could be a result of criminal acts committed by an outsider such as trespassing or robbery. Violence can also take place between customers and clients. The perpetrator of the violence can also be an employee or past employee who attacks an existing employee at the workplace. In some cases, workplace violence is a result of personal relationships, where a perpetrator is not related to the workplace but has a relationship with the victim.
When most think of workplace violence, they imagine an incident that resulted in physical harm. However, workplace violence can also include bullying, intimidation, verbal abuse, and more. Here are the types of workplace violence:
- Harassment including sexual assault
- Physical attack
- Concealing or using a weapon
- Verbal abuse or threats
- Bullying
- Stalking
- Intimidation
General Statistics for Workplace Violence
According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, more than 20,000 workers in the private industry experienced some physical or emotional trauma in acts of non-fatal workplace violence in 2020. As is the case with most workplace accidents, the injured victims had to spend days away from work, reducing the overall productivity of the workplace. Around 22% required 31 or more days away from work to recover from the workplace violence incident. The statistics also highlight that the victims were mostly females (73%) and aged between 25 to 54 (62%). The high percentage of workplace violence was in the social assistance and healthcare industry.
Unfortunately, workplace violence can also lead to fatalities. The statistics show that 392 U.S. workers were victims of workplace homicide in 2020. The victims of such crimes were mostly men (81%) and aged between 25 to 44 (44%). The demographic statistics for such incidents highlight that Black (28%) and Hispanic (18%) were the most common victims. The highest percentage of fatal workplace violence incidents happened in retail-related tasks such as working at retail counters or waiting on customers.
Industry Statistics
Healthcare remains one of the most dangerous industries due to a high percentage of workplace violence. Healthcare and social service workers are at an increased risk of suffering injuries due to workplace violence. Around 69% of healthcare workers have to endure physical abuse and 71% have to face non-physical assaults based on reported data.
The Government Accountability Office (GOA) reported that 15 million healthcare workers in the U.S. faced workplace violence. It’s not only the workers that are impacted by violence, businesses also have to face billions of dollars in losses due to such incidents.
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organisations reports that $250 to $350 billion are lost to annual losses every year. This is a result of staff injuries, time off work, lawsuits, loss of customers, loss of productivity, and damaged business reputation.
Impact of Corporate Policy on Workplace Violence
Around 55% of employees claim that they were unaware of the emergency plans for workplace violence. This means that the majority of workers were not prepared for workplace violence. A surprisingly high number of employees (24%) say they were not even sure if any such programs even existed at their workplace.
A common type of workplace violence is an active shooter on the premises. Nearly 80% of companies believe an active shooter is a major threat and 79% of the businesses believe they are not prepared to handle such a threat. The majority do not run any drills or offer training for such an event.
Role of a Workers Compensation Attorney
If you were injured while working, you may be entitled to recover compensation for your losses through a workers’ compensation claim. An experienced attorney can assess your case to determine your eligibility for a workers’ compensation claim and guide you on steps to recovering compensation.
A workers’ compensation lawyer can negotiate an out-of-court settlement, however, if that does not work, they can also represent you at a hearing or in a trial. For a successful outcome, you need strong evidence, and the attorney can assist you in gathering evidence. They can also help prepare all the required documents for the legal processes. Getting all this done while recovering from an injury can be challenging, so consider involving an attorney as early as possible in the legal proceedings. This will allow them to have maximum impact on your case.
1-800-Injured is an attorney and medical referral service.