Workplace Violence in the United States

Introduction

Workplaces provide mini communities involving different players operating based on some basic social laws and principles. However, the anticipated peaceful coexistence among workers and other stakeholders frequently ceases when specific individuals turn inhumane. Such occurrences lead to workplace violence, defined as the danger of harassment, violence, intimidation, and other bullying behavior towards an employee or worker (Workplace Violence, 2022). Workplace violence is a common issue in many contemporary organizations’ settings for various reasons. The concept of workplace violence is significantly new in the business domain, with America being part of its pioneers. Accordingly, enacted laws’ failure to protect employees from workplace violence implies the requirement for new tactics to manage the matter.

History

Concerns regarding workplace violence first hit U.S. society in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Kantor and Twohey (2019) provide 1986 as the precise year when the American FBI officially initiated tracking workplace bullying. Before then, organizations operated traditionally with employees and employers suffering at the hands of dangerous colleagues or customers at the place of work. The 1980s rise in post office shootings and murder of bosses and coworkers by discontented colleagues triggered the FBI’s involvement. Particularly, the Oklahoma incident of 1986, where a part-time mail transporter murdered several persons and wounded seven more before killing himself, served as an eye-opener (Kantor & Twohey, 2019). The incident gathered extensive media coverage, forcing the government to act. Accordingly, the régime, through Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), initiated numerous state-based schemes to trail the injured or murdered employees’ cases. Despite its formation, OSHA hardly impacted the rate of workplace violence in the nation, as depicted by the continuation of workplace mistreatment and killings.

An Event Concerning Workplace Violence

Workplace violence existed in the U.S. long before the attention-capturing killings of 1986 at the Oklahoma post office. However, the aspect mainly concerns issues such as the mugging of taxi drivers by clients and other minor interpersonal issues between employees. However, the Oklahoma killings and several other serious incidences involving workplace killings and injuries pushed the government to act. The 1987 workplace violence occurrence is another vital incident affecting the subject’s existence in the U.S. The case involved a USAir employee whose termination led him to kill 43 persons, including his previous employer, onboarding an aircraft (De Becker, 2021). David Burke, the assailant, intentionally boarded the plane while tracing his former boss. He, Burke, then shot the two pilots while the aircraft was airborne, leading to the death of all 43 individuals onboard. The incident features the murder of an employer by a dissatisfied employee. The occurrence strengthened the FBI’s determination to establish a lasting solution to the problem, especially after taking place while OSHA’s program was underway.

My View on the Topic

Workplace violence remains a critical issue to date despite the availability of laws criminalizing it. Taxi drivers, barmaids, medics serving mentally challenged individuals, and many other groups still face unimaginable workplace injuries and victimization. Arguably, the present challenge seems to lack a soon solution, based on today’s situation. OSHA and all the involved agencies need to develop more robust intervention measures to save the U.S. and the world’s population of workers. Establishing special training and protection for the highly exposed groups is one of the best interventions to undertake. Moreover, combining the present interventions with tech-based interventions involving the profiling of dangerous employees and customers promises to protect at-risk groups from violence, thus promoting workplace safety.

Conclusion

America’s official war on workplace violence started in the 1980s after a series of killings and injuries of post office employees and employers by disgruntled colleagues. Before then, the country was used to cab drivers and bar maids’ mugging by customers, which never attracted much concern. The associated homicide incidences pushed the government to act, forming laws prohibiting the heinous practice. However, today, America and the world struggle with workplace violence, revealing the need for tactical changes for real results.

References

De Becker, G. (2021). The gift of fear: Survival signals that protect us from violence. Back Bay Books.

Kantor, J. & Twohey, M. (2019). She said: Breaking the sexual harassment story that helped ignite a movement. Penguin Press an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

Workplace Violence. (2022). Occupational safety and health administration. Web.

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StudyCorgi. "Workplace Violence in the United States." April 25, 2024. https://studycorgi.com/workplace-violence-in-the-united-states/.

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StudyCorgi. 2024. "Workplace Violence in the United States." April 25, 2024. https://studycorgi.com/workplace-violence-in-the-united-states/.

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