labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Despite several high-profile cases of homicide at work, the U.S. Department of Labor insists that workplace violence is decreasing.

Police in Dover, Delaware interviewed a student on Friday regarding the early morning shooting of two students on campus at Delaware State University.  The university was on lockdown after the two were killed near Memorial Hall, the school sports arena.

“Approximately four to six shots were fired,” said school Police Chief Overton. According to police reports, a 17-year-old male student was shot once and a 17-year-old female student was shot twice and is in serious condition. Both students are in the hospital. The male is listed in stable condition.

“The female student, her injuries were more serious and they could potentially be life-threatening,” said university spokesman Carlos Holmes. “We’re praying, we’re hoping for the best for her.”

The university’s 1,700 students are all confined to their dorms on the 400-acre main campus while the police search for the shooter. Most of the students were informed of the incident and lockdown by cell phone. Campus police are being assisted in the search by various law enforcement agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“Any time you pick up a phone you automatically hear a message that lets you know the situation,” Holmes said. “We’ve used everything we have at our disposal.”

As tragic as this story is, it is becoming a less common one in the workplace, according to a recent report. Total assaults and violent acts resulting in death decreased from 792 in 2005 to 754 in 2006. That’s a reduction of about 5%.

According to an annual report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics or BLS, homicides in the workplace are on the downswing.  In 2006, OSHA reported the lowest number of workplace homicides since the BLS began keeping records. The rate was a decline of more than 50% from the highest reported workplace homicide rate, in 1994.

Still, in a tragic event in September, a 40-year-old waitress at an Orlando Denny’s was stabbed by her estranged husband in the restaurant on International Drive. Several families who had just left Walt Disney World witnessed the brutal attack. Customers and coworkers chased the attacker away. The man escaped only after jumping a nearby fence. In his haste to flee, he left behind the bloody knife and ran right out of one of his shoes. Despite the paramedics’ best efforts, the woman died of her injuries.

The Virginia Tech massacre remains the greatest workplace tragedy of the year. On April 16, 2007, an assailant armed with semi-automatic weapon and “enough ammo to start a war” chained the doors of a campus building shut. Seung-Hui Cho killed a total of 32 students and staff on the sprawling campus, and wounded 17 others before turning his Glock 19 on himself as police closed in. Cho had murdered two people in a nearby dorm earlier in the day. Some have criticized university officials for not closing the campus and the police for dismissing the original paid of homicides as “a domestic dispute.” It’s particularly puzzling that initial reports from police labeled the incident a “murder-suicide” when both victims were shot, but no gun was found in the room.

Seung-Hui Cho exhibited a number of signs that OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, has identified as warning signals of workplace violence. He had a history of irrational crushes on women he hardly knew, bordering on obsession. His stalker-like behavior and irrational jealously towards these casual acquaintances was out of proportion to actual events. Cho was a loner who isolated himself from all social contact. He had fits of rage and showed an unhealthy interest in weapons. He had a history of mental health problems, but was not receiving treatment for them.

 

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1. Posted by: Wisconsin Workplace Violence - Labor Law Center Blog

   [...] Several recent incidents of violence have occurred on college campuses. While many violent incidents involve students, they alos endanger the lives of countless professors, administrators and staff members who must work on college campuses every day. [...]

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