Workplace Violence

Workplace Violence Workplace violence has become a well-known yet often misunderstood social problem in both the United States and around the world. Ever since 1986, when a postal employee in Edmond, Oklahoma, murdered 14 fellow employees and wounded several others, workplace violence has been synonymous with senseless violence directed against coworkers and supervisors by deranged and disgruntled employees. In a report entitled “Violence on the Job–A Global Problem” released in Geneva and Washington, DC, in July of 1998, the International Labour Organization (ILO) noted that outbursts of violence occurring at workplaces around the globe suggest that this issue transcends the boundaries of a particular country, work setting, or occupational group. According to the ILO, a 1996 European Union survey based on 15,800 interviews in its 15 member states showed that four percent of workers (6 million) were subjected to violence in the preceding year (Chappell and DiMartino 1998).