WHEREAS:

Close to 60 AFSCME members have been killed in workplace assaults. AFSCME members who work in health care, corrections, social services, and security suffer injury rates that are far higher than the average employee; and

WHEREAS:

Homicides were the second leading cause of death in the workplace in 1996, accounting for 15% of all workplace deaths according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and were the leading cause of traumatic workplace death among women; and

WHEREAS:

Over two million Americans are victims of physical attacks in the workplace each year. More than six million were threatened, and over sixteen million were harassed. 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 are a product of recognizable and preventable risk factors including the work environment, work practices, victim/perpetrator profiles, poor management and stressful working conditions; and

WHEREAS:

Physical attacks are twice as likely to be from a customer, client or patient than from a co-worker or stranger. "Worker on Worker" violence represents only 6-8% of workplace homicides, yet is often where management focuses its attention. Many management-initiated policies, such as zero-tolerance policies, profiles and psychological testing can violate workers’ rights.

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 other workplace health and safety issues, it is the employer’s duty to provide a safe workplace and it is the responsibility of the federal and/or state OSHA programs to enforce that duty; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME urges employers to comply with OSHA’s Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Health Care and Social Service Workers and Recommendations for Workplace Violence Prevention Programs in Late-Night Retail Establishments, and demands that OSHA cite employers who are not in compliance; 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 FINALLY RESOLVED:

That AFSCME work with management to address worker-on-worker violence by developing labor-management programs that reduce workplace stress by referring troubled employees to Employee Assistance Programs, and that AFSCME oppose management efforts to use profiles, psychological screening and other inaccurate or invasive methods to screen out "troublesome" employees, and that in no instance will an investigation of a member occur without representation.

SUBMITTED BY:

Ronald C. Alexander, President and Delegate 
Vanessa Tolliver, Secretary-Treasurer and Delegate 
OCSEA/AFSCME Local 11
Ohio