• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Workplace Violence

Orb

Critical Thinker
O
Joined
Nov 17, 2005
Messages
324
I work for a large shipping company that specializes in "express" shipping. I'm concerned that my workplace is being fooled by a long ago debunked irrational fear.

Recently they have been implementing new company policies to stop workplace violence. This includes everyone having to watch video, signing an agreement form, and promising to report any violent behavior to management. This behavior can be anything slightly violent; A gesture, a look, or phrase like "oh man that guy makes me want to kill him" - even jokingly.

We could actually loose our jobs for making off color remarks and making someone feel uncomfortable. AND they are going to start using armed security personnel!

I don't really have a problem with them wanting to keep us safe, but it seems they are going a little overboard and are using statistics that are deceptive like "there are over 1 million cases of workplace violence ever year". Except that 90% of those are law enforcement related! Also, the vast majority are committed by an outside person, not another employee, so why are we supposed to be watching our co-workers like they are going to blow up any second? I read in The Culture of FEAR by Glassner that you have a better chance of being struck by lighting a couple times than your co-worker attacking you.

Also, I have no idea where this concern all of a sudden comes from! There has been no rise in violence in our company or in the US. Actually, a downward trend is seen.

Here is my dilemma: Should I say anything? I don't know what it's costing the company to set up the hot-lines and hire more security, but maybe the stockholders would care to know they are waisting their money? It just seems like a huge "wombat" and it makes people feel uncomfortable to express their frustrations.

OK, I'm done venting. Any advice?
 
Orb said:
I work for a large shipping company that specializes in "express" shipping. I'm concerned that my workplace is being fooled by a long ago debunked irrational fear.

Recently they have been implementing new company policies to stop workplace violence. This includes everyone having to watch video, signing an agreement form, and promising to report any violent behavior to management. This behavior can be anything slightly violent; A gesture, a look, or phrase like "oh man that guy makes me want to kill him" - even jokingly.
Click to expand...
Wow. Your company woulda fired me just this morning. I was talking on the phone with a customer right after a particularly annoying conference call. He asked me how I was doing.

Me: "(Growl)... Well, I haven't killed anyone yet today, but it's still early..."
Him: "Uh-oh, I'd better watch out."
Me: "Oh, don't worry, you're okay. You're not on my 'shoot-to-kill' list."
Him: "Well, that's good to know."
Me: "Yeah, you're on the 'shoot-to-maim' list."

All this was said in a bantering manner, and neither one of us had the slightest belief that I was serious.

See, we were doing something radical. We were using common sense.

We could actually loose our jobs for making off color remarks and making someone feel uncomfortable. AND they are going to start using armed security personnel!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'd feel very comfortable knowing there's a guy walking around my office with a pistol strapped around his waist. Could you make that a complaint? "There's a guy here walking around with a gun. Seems to me there's an implied threat of violence here. Should he be removed?"

As regards your request for advice, I'd say watch your mouth and your emails until you get a better job somewhere else.

How do your cow-orkers all feel about this?
 
In my experience, though somewhat limited, in corporate america such 'out of the blue' policies often result from new managers being added to the HR team or elsewhere in the organization or from an existing manager in HR who suddenly has reason to fear for his/her job and therefore has a powerful desire to seem like he/she is doing something significant.

For goodness sake, don't come out against the policy in the slightest if your job is at all important to you. Best conduct is usually to praise the policy for it's thoughfulness and prescience when it is intially introduced and then avoid talking about it at all afterwards which will help it fade into the distance.

Just remember, eventually another manager will discover how much this program is costing the company with little return and cut it in favor of another useless program. Ah the cycles of business...

-Ssserpent
 
Here's a good source for statistics, from the FBI... I can't post the link but if you Google "FBI report violence workplace" it will pop up at the top of the list.


"However, contrary to popular opinion, sensational multiple homicides represent a very small number of workplace violence incidents.The majority of incidents that employees/managers have to deal with on a daily basis are lesser cases of assaults, domestic violence, stalking, threats, harassment (to include sexual harassment), and physical and/or emotional abuse that make no headlines. Many of these incidents, in fact, are not even reported to company officials, let alone to police. Data on the exact extent of workplace
violence “are scattered and sketchy,” specialists acknowledged in a February 2001 report issued by the University of Iowa’s Injury Prevention Research Center. Drawing on responses to the National Crime Victimization Survey, a Justice Department report estimated that an average of 1.7 million “violent victimizations,” 95 percent of them simple or aggravated assaults, occurred in the workplace each year from 1993 through 1999.*

Estimates of the costs, from lost work time and wages, reduced productivity, medical costs, workers’ compensation payments, and legal and security expenses, are even less exact, but clearly run into many billions of dollars."


Considering that most people spend a lot of time at their place of work, it's natural that violence would occur often at their place of work. It's sort of like most car accidents occurring within ten miles of where you live. In that respect it makes perfect sense to have a good workplace violence policy with common-sense enforcement. I just had a class where we discussed this report, and pretty much everyone (older, professional, students) had an example of violence that had occurred in their workplace, ranging all the way from multiple homicide to harrassment stalking. One of the weirdest ones was an office employee who was bullied so much they got mad and stabbed their bullier in the thigh with a pencil. Most of us had not really thought much about the subject in an organized way but came to realize it was pretty important.

If a workplace violence policy is enforced well, then obvious jokes would not fall under it. The problem is that the people enforcing these policies can sometimes act like idiots to make themselves feel more important, but they do that in lots of other areas too.
 
Last edited:
The_Serpent said:
In my experience, though somewhat limited, in corporate america such 'out of the blue' policies often result from new managers being added to the HR team or elsewhere in the organization...
Click to expand...

AKA The "Seagull Manager": A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps over every thing and then leaves.
 
The company couldn't care less about protecting the employees. They are trying to protect their own butts from lawsuits if anything did happen.

Start looking for another job. You're probably in more danger from the armed rent-a-cops than you are from your coworkers.
 
Manny said:
Is it a poor reflection on me that I opened this thread ready to argue the "for" position on this issue?
Click to expand...
Can you come down to DC sometime this week? I have a couple of contractors who desperately need to have the living $h!t choked out of them.
 
shemp said:
The company couldn't care less about protecting the employees. They are trying to protect their own butts from lawsuits if anything did happen.

Start looking for another job. You're probably in more danger from the armed rent-a-cops than you are from your coworkers.
Click to expand...


That's exactly why I wanted to protest the new policies! Why does it not matter that the 75 yr old man with a gun makes me extremely nervous, but if I slam my fist on my desk because someone tee'd me off I could get reprimanded or fired?

I really liked the "seagull manager" btw, hilarious.

And no, we weren't robbed recently that I know of. I work for a globally recognized "express" shipping company. I would love to know what they spent on videos, pamphlets, posters, and glossy paper everyone had to read, but I bet we won't get a company picnic again this year due to budget cuts. :mad:

Maybe its time for a career change. Anyone hiring?
 
Oh you know, regular office stuff;

Sit at a desk and look busy
Tell you how nice your shirt looks
Buy donuts
Gossip/Spread rumors
Cut out articles and leave them on your chair
Forward email pics of my dog

But I specialize as a short order book cook. How would you like your budget spend to look this month? Would you like a slice of pie chart with that?

I keed! I keed! [/triumph]

Sigh, just a finance analyst. Dime a dozen. I should just quit griping and get back to work.
 
Orb said:
...

But I specialize as a short order book cook. How would you like your budget spend to look this month? Would you like a slice of pie chart with that?

I keed! I keed! [/triumph]

Sigh, just a finance analyst. Dime a dozen. I should just quit griping and get back to work.
Click to expand...

LoL. As a former co-worker of mine said:
At __________ we not only cook the books, we fry them to a fine crisp."


ETA: This is my 666th post. How spooky is that? :p
 
Orb said:
But I specialize as a short order book cook. How would you like your budget spend to look this month? Would you like a slice of pie chart with that?

I keed! I keed! [/triumph]

Sigh, just a finance analyst. Dime a dozen. I should just quit griping and get back to work.
Click to expand...
How hard would it be for you to get your CPA?
 
I've been in security for 5 years now, for several companies at several sites each in several states. The only incidents of workplace violence I've ever dealt with were domestic-related. The one committing the violence was not an employee. He (I say "he" because in my experience the violent person was never female) would show up, full of rage at his woman, or some guy at her job who he didn't like her talking to (nevermind they had to work together), and start trouble. This includes an art school I worked in - where the violent person was the b/f of a student, who didn't like her talking to another male student - so he still was an outsider.

These zero tolerance policies are flat out ridiculous. They're like the Gun Free School Zone act of 1994 that only results in normal kids getting expelled for pointing their fingers and saying "bang bang". They're "feel good" non-solutions. Not sure who said it, but I agree these come about (in business anyway) from a new-blood idiot manager who wants to take a law and order approach to what's basically a non-issue. And it helps to have such a policy around so they can fire whoever they want if they don't have any other sufficient cause - my security company is similar: they have a lot of chicken-S rules and nitpicky stuff that nobody follows, but that they can use as an excuse to fire someone who isn't a good worker but never does anything specifically heinous.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom