Outside Insights | By Todd Wozniak
An October 2007 shooting at a Charlotte, North Carolina, quick-serve restaurant was a sobering reminder of the potential for violent crimes to occur in quick-service restaurants. During the incident, two store managers were gunned down by a disgruntled ex-employee who had been fired just weeks before.
The Centers for Disease Control identified key traits of businesses prone to workplace violence and many relate to the restaurant industry. Some examples are contact with the public, exchange of money, working late at night, and working early morning hours.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics notes that just two years ago, assaults and violent acts constituted 14 percent of all workplace fatalities, with homicide as the fourth leading cause of workplace fatalities.
In addition to the inestimable cost in human life lost, employers incur enormous financial losses as an effect of workplace violence. The Workplace Violence Research Institute estimates that business owners nationwide lose $36 billion annually from the effects of workplace violence.
Often, employers have not defined workplace violence, and are unsure of what role they should take. The Bureau of Labor Statistic’s 2005 Workplace Violence Prevention Report indicates that more than 70 percent of U.S. workplaces have no formal program or policy that addresses workplace violence.
Workplace violence may consist of physical violence, verbal abuse, harassment, witnessing violence upon a co-worker, and threats, as well as spillover effects of domestic violence in employees’ personal lives.
While employers are not required to guarantee an environment free from workplace violence, their failure to address the issue creates liability for incidents of violence.
In fact, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), employers may have a legal obligation to provide their employees with a place of employment that is “free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees.” In a workplace where the risk of violence is significant enough to be “recognized hazard,” OSHA requires the employer to take steps to minimize those risks. Failure to do so could result in an OSHA citation, legal claims for negligence, emotional distress, and law suits against breach of contract.
Employers should take the following measures to help reduce hazards that are likely to encourage workplace violence:
Diligent hiring and supervision: Conduct a criminal background check on applicants. Be certain, however, that the scope of the background check on the employee does not run against laws that protect employees’ privacy, such as the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, and that the interview not include impermissible questions about past drug and alcohol use and psychiatric conditions which may violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Create a threat management team: Members can include professionals from human resources, the legal department, outside counsel, upper management, security, employee assistance program representatives, front line supervisors, and representative employees.
Assess vulnerabilities on a regular basis: Starting places for security audits include workers’ compensation records, employee disciplinary files, OSHA reports, security reports, and personnel files.
Adopt violence prevention policies: At all times, the policy should be sensitive to and protect the confidentiality of victims. In addition, the policy should include referrals to local resources for victims of violence.
Conduct regular training: All employees should understand workplace violence principles, organizational policies, warning signs of violence, and proper response and neutralizing techniques. Upper management should receive additional training on threat management and security implementation.
Fire respectfully: Conducting terminations with respect and dignity can decrease tensions at a very emotional point in the employee’s life. Naturally, if an employee already has exhibited violent tendencies, it is unwise to invite the employee in for an exit interview and he may need to be accompanied by security if returning to the building to gather personal belongings.
Banning weapons: There are many pragmatic reasons for adopting a policy banning weapons in the workplace. A May 2005 study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that workplaces where guns were permitted were five to seven times more likely to be the site of a workplace homicide.