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Area IV. Topic I. Workplace Violence
Introduction
Preventing workplace violence is a growing concern in the United States. Public interest and
media attention have focused primarily on dramatic but very rare types of violence such as
shootings by disgruntled employees in office buildings. Planners of workplace violence programs
face the dual challenge of reducing employees’ anxiety about very rare risk factors while focusing
their attention on more likely sources of danger. Undue anxiety about the “office gunman” can
stand in the way of identifying more significant, but less dramatic, risk factors such as poorly
lighted parking lots or gaps in employee training programs. This anxiety can also make it more
difficult to cope with one of the most common workplace violence problems — the employee
whose language or behavior frightens coworkers. (Office of Personnel Management www.opm.gov)
Links
Disclaimer: This material is for training purposes only. Its purpose is to inform employers of best practices in occupational safety and health and general OSHA compliance requirements. This material is not, in any way, a substitute for any provision of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 or any standards issued by OSHA.
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