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Colorado Workplace Violence

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A coworker says that workplace violence is increasing in Colorado. Is this true?

There have been some tragic and high profile cases of workplace violence, including the shootings at Virginia Tech. But the actual numbers of workplace killings are down, according to statistics put out by the U.S. Department of Labor.

In the Virginia Tech shootings, 32 students and staff were killed and another 17 wounded before the gunman killed himself. In another case, a Dover, Delaware student was arrested following the shooting deaths of 2 students on the Delaware State University campus. And a waitress in an Orlando, Fla., Denny’s restaurant was stabbed to death by her estranged husband.

Yet cases like these mask the fact that workplace violence is actually becoming less common. For example, fwrom 2005 to 2006 the number of assaults and violent acts that ended in death were actually down 5%, from 792 to 754. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has released its annual report. Numbers showed that not only were the numbers declining, they were lowest since the BLS began keeping records. In fact, workplace homicide rates declined 50% from 1994, the year with the highest reported rate.

The Virginia Tech tragedy stood out as the worst of the year. According to OSHA, the killer, Seung-Hui Cho, exhibited some of the typical signs of impending workplace violence. He developed crushes on women he barely knew and demonstrated signs of jealousy regarding these essentially casual acquaintances. He also showed an unhealthy interest in weapons. He manifested signs of untreated mental health problems.

After the shootings, both university officials and police were criticized for not responding sooner, after a pair of early killings. The university failed to close the campus at that point, and police described the first two deaths as a “domestic dispute” and a “murder-suicide,” even though no gun was found at the scene of the shootings. At Delaware State, officials put the school on lock-down after shootings near the university’s athletic center took the lives of 2 students.

In the Orlando stabbing, the waitress died despite efforts by paramedics. Customers and coworkers chased the suspect, who left behind a bloody knife and his shoes. JH