Human Resource Blog

Florida Workplace Violence

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Is it true that workplace violence is increasing in Florida?

Workplace violence is actually decreasing in the state of Florida. In fact, it is on the decline throughout the entire United States, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

High-profile cases have probably made public awareness of workplace violence much greater than it has been in the past. For instance, the worst tragedy of last year was the massacre at Virginia Tech. Seung-Hui Cho first murdered two students in a nearby dorm early in the day before going on his campus-wide rampage. Thirty-two students and staff personnel were killed, and 17 people were wounded by Cho before he killed himself as police closed in on him.

The university has received criticism because they failed to close the campus after discovering the first two murder victims. An interesting aspect of this case is that police considered the first incident to be a “murder-suicide”, though a gun was not found in the dorm room.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA wants employers to recognize signs that an employee might be violent. Seung-Hui Cho had exhibited warning signals that should alert anyone to the potential of workplace violence.

Cho exhibited stalker-like behavior towards women that he barely knew, and was a loner who did not participate in any type of social activities. Cho was known to have bouts of rage, and displayed an interest in weapons that was not healthy. Even though Cho had a history of mental health issues, he was not being treated for those problems.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that homicides within the workplace are declining. The total number of violent acts and assaults that resulted in death fell from 792 in 2005 to 754 in 2006. This shows a marked reduction of roughly 5%.

In Dover, Delaware a student was recently arrested for the shooting deaths of two other students on the campus of Delaware State University. All of the university’s 1,700 students were placed on lockdown while police searched for the killer. JH