Under the "better late than never" column, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released their preliminary findings of Fatal Occupation Injuries from 2011. The single largest amount of deaths on the job were caused by transportation incidents, followed by violence and other injuries by persons or animals. After these two, in order, followed contact with objects & equipment; falls/slips/trips; exposure to harmful substances; and fires & explosions. Let's focus on the fatal incidents caused by violence:There were a total of 4609 fatal working injuries in the U.S. in 2011.Of those 4609 deaths, 780 of them were caused by workplace violence.Of the 780, 458 were homicides, and 242 were suicides. (It doesn't say what caused the other 80 -- I can only assume that it involves the "animals" part of the statistic.)The majority of the fatal events attributed to violence -- 680 -- involved men. And here is where it gets interesting: Nearly 40% of the homicides of women involved relatives, with almost all of them being former or current spouses or domestic partners. This is in sharp contrast with the men killed in the workplace, who were only related 2% of the time to their assailants. So, it is pretty clear that domestic violence makes its way into the workplace rather frequently when it comes to women. What can an employer do to help protect them? Well, here are few measures to think about: Consider installing electronic access control doors on the entries that employees use, allowing entry only to employees with a valid electronic access control card.If you are unable to install an access control system, at the very least keep the number of entry doors to a mininum -- you want to keep the flow of employees in and out of the building to as few doors as possible. Keep all other doors to the building locked from the outside.Enforce strict policies regarding spouses having free access to the interior spaces of your facility. Remember, you may have known Barbara's husband George for years, but you may not be aware of what is currently going on between them in their personal lives. Encourage your female employees to communicate to their managers regarding any concerns they may have about potentially violent or combative behavior with their spouse or domestic partner. The manager can provide another set of aware eyes and ears to the situation, and even offer to walk with the employee to her car at the end of the day.Speaking of employees walking to their cars -- how well-lit is your parking lot? Whenever I'm asked to consult with a client regarding the security of their facility, outside lighting is something I always recommend -- something to do even before they spend money on sophisticated surveillance equipment. There is a lot security bang for the buck in lighting up your facility. It's the first line of defense, and during the early darkness of winter evenings makes it harder for perpetrators to hide in the parking area of your building.There was a concluding point from the study that did have a bit of a silver lining. Apparently, fatal work injuries have decreased by 21 percent since 2006, and by more than 25% since 1992. However, even though times have changed for the better, we still have a ways to go to protect our employees from violence in the workplace.Have a comment? Please feel free to e-mail me at JRay@Level5SG.com
