A conversation about the increase of violence at work

I had other plans for this month’s column, but

I can’t ignore the devastation that has occurred because of gun violence. I am not going to take on gun control here. What I do want to do is illuminate is the pervasiveness of violence occurring in workplaces and what we can do. Along with that, I want you to consider that the possibility of this happening at your workplace is real.

Mass shootings

For this discussion I’m going to focus on mass-shootings, specifically. The definitions vary in the U.S., but Richard Berk, University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Criminology reports that “The Congressional Research Service defines mass shootings, as multiple, firearm, homicide incidents, involving 4 or more victims at one or more locations close to one another. The FBI definition is essentially the same.”

According to The Washington

Post, mass shootings “have been on the rise.” They report the incidents for the past three years: almost 700 in 2021; 611 in 2020; 417 in 2019. They also note that the number of incidents in a year have never exceeded 400 since the Gun Violence Archive started tracking in 2014.

We’re not even at the halfway mark of 2022, and we’re already at 254 incidents (at least four each week) in 40 U.S. states (at press time). And, I looked more closely at where they occurred: supermarket, elementary school, hospital, nightclub, arts festivals, bowling alley, public bus, gas station, funeral home, church, subway. All are workplaces for someone!

So, let’s review: mass shootings are increasing; they occur in 77% of U.S. states and they happen anywhere people live, work or play. Do I have your attention?

Violence in the workplace

Bringing this to work, we have more sobering facts. The Society for Human Resource

Management (SHRM) shares data: “each year, an average of nearly 2 million U.S. workers report having been a victim of violence at work (Occupational Safety and Health Administration); annual workplace homicides is approximately 400 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).”

A 2020 report from Voice of America News reported in a history of Workplace Shootings that “workplaces were the most common sites for mass shootings, at 31%.” In May of 2021,