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Illinois Workplace Violence

February 28th, 2008 Posted by Amelia

Already several major episodes of violence in the workplace have marred 2008. That’s why ever employer should have a program to prevent workplace violence, and a plan in place to address it.

Although the federal government insists that workplace violence is decreasing, Illinois workplace violence seems to be on the uptick.

On February 2, a gunman attempted to rob the Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park, Illinois, a south suburb of Chicago. The man forced the store manager and four customers into the back room, where he bound them with duct tape. When the store manager dialed 911 on her cell phone, the gunman opened fire. He killed all 5 women, and injured another employee who was just arriving for work.

A police office who was at the mall on another call responded in less than one minute, but the robber had fled.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the gunman intentionally targeted the women’s clothing store because he thought women were less likely to resist a robbery.

Also on February 14, a former graduate student at Northern Illinois University (NIU) in DeKalb opened fire in an oceanography class. Five students were killed and more than a dozen, including a professor were injured in the shooting spree, before the shooter turned the gun on himself.

The gunman, dressed all in black, stormed into the classroom about 3 pm on Thursday and began firing into the crowd of 100 students. About half the students tried to run out of the lecture hall, while the others fell to the floor and hid under desks. Within seconds, 15 people were wounded and 6 were killed. One victim died of wounds in the following days.

The shooting took place just 15 minutes before the class was scheduled to end.

Authorities have identified Steve Kazmierczak, 27, a former grad student at NIU as the lone shooter. Every indication at this point is that he acted alone.

Kazmierczak was a former sociology grad student at NIU who had transferred to the University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana about a year ago. He apparently chose the ocean science classroom at random, without knowing any of the students or the professor.

Kazmierczak’s motives are unclear. His knowledge of criminal justice – one of his areas of study – enabled him to conceal evidence from the police. Because Kazmierczak destroyed his computer hard drive and vital chips in his cell phone, authorities can only speculate on his motives.

Kazmierczak’s girlfriend insists that he was as much a victim here as any of the other fatally injured students. Kazmierczak was on three drugs for anxiety and depression, although he had recently discontinued one. He is described as an honor roll student who had garnered several awards.

In Illinois and throughout the United States, homicide is a major cause of workplace fatalities. The Bureau of Statistics reports that over 200 murders occurred on the job in the early 1990s. In 2006, that number had decreased to 94 murders, but homicides are still a large component of workplace violence.

Certain occupations are particularly susceptible to violence on the job. Perhaps the most obvious are persons who work in high crime areas and who work alone or in small groups late at night. Less obvious are nurses and other healthcare personnel. Statistics, in fact, show that nurses are assaulted on the job as often as police officers. The majority of incidents occur in the hospital, but some occur when nurses do home visits.

To assist in training workers, employers can obtain downloads and videos on preventing workplace violence from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).