WHEREAS:
Over two million Americans were victims of physical assault in the workplace in 1992. These attacks occurred in a variety of settings. More than six million were threatened, and over sixteen million were harassed. Physical attacks were twice as likely to be from a customer, client or patient than from a co-worker or stranger; and
WHEREAS:
Over forty AFSCME members have been killed in workplace assaults and AFSCME members who work in health care, law enforcement, corrections, juvenile detention facilities, social services, housing inspections, and many other occupations are at high risk of workplace violence; and
WHEREAS:
Homicides were the second leading cause of death in the workplace in 1992, accounting for 17% of all workplace deaths, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics; and
WHEREAS:
Homicide was the leading manner of traumatic workplace death among men in the United States from 1980 to 1989, causing 41% of all such deaths among women compared with 10% among men; and
WHEREAS:
Health care workers employed in overcrowded, publicly operated psychiatric hospitals, developmental disabilities centers and community-based settings for mentally disabled people suffer injury rates that are three to four times higher than for correctional officers; and
WHEREAS:
More than a third of all emergency-room nurses are assaulted on the job each year and nearly 20% have considered quitting because of violence. 64% reported at least one physical assault in their careers; and
WHEREAS:
Women, immigrants, and the self-employed tend to face a larger threat of being killed on the job in workplace violence than other populations. While immigrants comprised 9 percent of the nation's workforce, they represented 25 percent of the total workplace homicides in 1992; and
WHEREAS:
Workplace violence is not just limited to physical assault, but can also include near misses, verbal abuse, and sexual harassment; and
WHEREAS:
Aside from physical injuries, violent and abusive incidents in the workplace often result in serious and disabling physical or psychological damage, including post traumatic stress disorder; and
WHEREAS:
Most violent acts are not random, but can be predicted by recognizing common risk factors including the work environment, work practices and the victim/perpetrator profiles; and
WHEREAS:
Poor management and stressful working conditions can increase the likelihood of workplace violence by employees; and
WHEREAS:
Like other health and safety hazards, it is the employer's responsibility to provide the working conditions that will minimize the likelihood of employee injury due to violence, and it is OSHA's duty to enforce that responsibility.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That AFSCME urges employers and federal and state OSHA programs to acknowledge that workplace violence is a serious, recognizable and preventable health and safety problem and that like thousands of other workplace health and safety issues it is the employer's responsibility to provide a safe workplace; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That in order to prevent violent incidents, AFSCME urges employers to install safety devices in the workplace, increase staffing levels, develop training programs, institute counseling or debriefing programs for victims, establish victim compensation funds and take whatever other actions are needed to protect workers from assault; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME urges affiliates to advocate for laws and regulations that will determine staffing levels in juvenile detention facilities; institutions for the mentally ill or retarded that adequately provide a therapeutic environment and protect staff from assault; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME work with management to develop programs that will prevent violence by employees by taking measures to reduce workplace stress, and by referring troubled employees to Employee Assistance Programs; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will oppose management efforts to identify and screen out "troublesome employees;" and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
That AFSCME urges federal and state OSHA programs to publicly recognize that workplace violence is preventable and that OSHA continue to impose General Duty citations on employers, produce educational materials, hold conferences and issue a compliance directive that will lead to a standard designed to minimize the probability of violence in the workplace.
SUBMITTED BY:
Joseph E. McDermott, President and Delegate
Mary K Saxon, Secretary and Delegate
AFSCME/CSEA Local 1000
New York
Gary M. Lonzo, President and Delegate
Carol Heffernan, Secretary and Delegate
AFSCME Council 24
Wisconsin