Workplace Violence

If somebody started to spray your workplace with gunfire, would you know how to increase your survival chances? It's an awful question, but given the history of workplace violence in the 1990s, one that has to be asked, Here's another important question: Would your workplace have seen it coming? Workplace-violence experts were quick to jump on the day trader's rampage in Atlanta and point out his flawed background and all the warning signs. No single incident, even in finely combed retrospect, can provide a blueprint for future action, but here are some tips collected from several safety consultants: For the individual worker: Take a few minutes to think about where you'd duck, where you'd hide, what escape route might be safest and how you'd communicate if a gunman suddenly appeared.

Three statistics stick in ex-cop William Whitmore's mind - 52 percent of American employees have heard about, seen, or experienced violence on the job. One in three worry about their safety at work. And yet, employees think that the majority of their senior executives don't care. "I think that alone is a call to action," said Whitmore. True, the call that Whitmore might prefer is to his company, AlliedBarton Security Services L.P., based in Conshohocken and one of the nation's largest security firms, with 50,000 employees.

Think fast. A gunman walks into your office. What do you do? There's a desk to dive under, but where do you put the chair? Once you're under there, can you reach the phone to call police? It may seem like an unlikely scenario, but, say members of the Bucks County Violence Prevention Task Force, the workplace is the second most dangerous place, after the home, and the scenario is one that all office managers, supervisors and staff members should be prepared to handle. "Virtually all of us live in some state of denial, that it isn't going to happen to you," said task force chairman William Eastburn 3d. "I assure you that is not the case.

They can't make you love your job or your boss. But they can help make your office a better place to work. The Bucks County Violence Prevention Task Force this Friday will hold its first seminar on how to prevent violence in the workplace. The seminar, to be held in the Bucks County Police Academy Training Center, will feature lectures on the hidden risks of workplace violence, the role of management in setting the stage for workplace violence, how to identify and deal with high-risk employees, and sexual harassment.

Workplace violence will be the focus of a public meeting Wednesday held by Norristown State Hospital's community advisory group, which has been on hiatus since a deadly June hostage ordeal at the hospital. Penny Dunyan, the group's chairwoman, said the meeting would be an opportunity for people to address any concerns they may have about the hospital and workplace violence - not to get specific answers about the incident in which fired nurse Denis Czajkowski is accused of taking two nursing administrators hostage in Building 2 on June 16. Two days later, state police said, Czajkowski opened fire on Carol Kepner, 54, and Maria Jordan, 37, as state police broke a window to try to see into the room where he was holding the women.

Workplace violence is as common as water-cooler gossip, with nearly two million incidents - including 600 to 800 homicides - reported nationally. But count only incidents with more than one dead victim and the numbers shrink to just 10 to 20 cases a year, said Park Dietz, a workplace-violence expert and forensic psychiatrist. And cases with a female shooter? "That's so unusual. This is just the fourth one that I recall in 30 years," said Dietz, founder and president of the Threat Assessment Group, of Newport Beach, Calif.

In the aftermath of the deadly hostage standoff at Norristown State Hospital, security upgrades have been made to help prevent another violent episode on the grounds, hospital officials and police said last night at a meeting with residents. The hospital's Community Advisory Committee met for the first time since the June 16 hostage situation, in which fired nurse Denis Czajkowski is accused of holding two nursing administrators at gunpoint in Building 2. After a two-day standoff with Pennsylvania State Police, Czajkowski allegedly opened fire on Carol Kepner, 54, of Lower Merion, and Maria Jordan, 37, of Norristown, when police broke a window to see the women.

A leading criminal psychiatrist and expert on workplace violence told a federal jury yesterday that Amtrak's failure to respond to months of odd behavior from a mentally ill machinist resulted in the 1997 shoot-out at its Wilmington yard that left a foreman dead and two workers seriously wounded. "The managers did not know where to turn; they didn't turn anywhere, and let it happen," psychiatrist Park Dietz told the U.S. District Court jury hearing the civil lawsuit filed by the widow of Amtrak foreman John J. Jensen.

Balwinder Singh goes out every day not knowing what to expect from the world. It could be a pleasant and profitable day or it could be his last. He takes his chances every time he picks up another fare in his blue and white taxi. But Singh, who drives for City Cab Co., has no other choice. He drives to support his family, even if it means getting the occasional gun shoved in his temple. According to a survey released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the Justice Department, more than 2 million people are victimized in the workplace every year.

Are you the owner of a small business with a PC so old it belongs in a museum? Dell Computer wants to reward you. Dell is launching a nationwide "Search for the Oldest PC. " The small business deemed to have the oldest PC still in use will receive $15,000 worth of new Dell computer equipment free. In recognition of its historic value, Dell will donate the oldest system to the Computer Museum of America in La Mesa, Calif. This year generally is considered to be the 25th anniversary of the PC, according to Dell.

Three statistics stick in ex-cop William Whitmore's mind - 52 percent of American employees have heard about, seen, or experienced violence on the job. One in three worry about their safety at work. And yet, employees think that the majority of their senior executives don't care. "I think that alone is a call to action," said Whitmore. True, the call that Whitmore might prefer is to his company, AlliedBarton Security Services L.P., based in Conshohocken and one of the nation's largest security firms, with 50,000 employees.

LONG BEACH, Calif. - It had all the ingredients of workplace violence: a manager, an angry employee, a discussion about job performance, and at least one gun. But in this case, both people were federal agents. And when gunfire erupted in a government office building, a third agent drew his handgun and took out the shooter, helping save the manager's life. Investigators on Friday were still piecing together the details of Thursday's chaotic scene at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Long Beach.

Workplace violence is as common as water-cooler gossip, with nearly two million incidents - including 600 to 800 homicides - reported nationally. But count only incidents with more than one dead victim and the numbers shrink to just 10 to 20 cases a year, said Park Dietz, a workplace-violence expert and forensic psychiatrist. And cases with a female shooter? "That's so unusual. This is just the fourth one that I recall in 30 years," said Dietz, founder and president of the Threat Assessment Group, of Newport Beach, Calif.

On the third floor of the Kraft Foods baking plant in Northeast Philadelphia, Yvonne Hiller and her coworkers used huge mixing machines to combine ingredients for the Ritz crackers and Lorna Doone cookies manufactured there. But a more lethal mixture apparently was created there, too: a growing hostility between Hiller and her coworkers that led to the fatal shootings of two employees, allegedly by Hiller, who minutes earlier had been suspended over an incident involving their conflict.

As Monday night's fatal shootings at a business meeting in the Navy Yard show, violence stalks the workplace. Since 1993, about 300 workers in the Philadelphia area have been slain on the job, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2005, the latest year for which figures are available, the region's 15 homicides were the second-biggest reason for workplace deaths after construction accidents, or "falling. " There were 16 falling deaths and 12 road-related deaths in 2005, the government says.

The strained relationship between two law enforcement agencies charged with fighting crime in Camden deteriorated further yesterday as the union representing city police supervisors filed an administrative complaint against the commander of the state police contingent. The complaint accuses Capt. William R. Higgins, who leads about 40 troopers stationed in Camden, of creating a "hostile work environment" that puts union members at risk of "workplace violence. " Higgins said he could not comment on the allegations, and a state police spokesman also declined to comment.

Violence by U.S. Postal Service employees has become a standard joke. Workplace violence, however, is hardly a laughing matter and often occurs at work sites unrelated to the Postal Service. Rampage shootings have taken place in classrooms, in school yards, in factories and banks, in trucking depots, fast-food outlets, dance halls and manufacturing plants. How to head off workplace rage? Pay closer attention to your employees. The more sensitive employers are to the people who work for them, the better the chance to intercept the moment of unreasoned violence.

While incidents of workplace shootings such as the ones in Seattle and Hawaii continue to draw headlines, a survey released last week says that shootings and stabbings account for just 2 percent of workplace violence. Fifty-seven percent of human resource professionals responding to the 1999 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, said that a violent incident had occurred in their workplace between January 1996 and July 1999. The most common acts of violence reported by the human resource workers included verbal threats (41 percent)

Two workplace shootings leave nine people dead The death toll from a string of public shooting rampages this year escalated last week with separate attacks in Honolulu and Seattle that left nine people dead. In Honolulu the alleged gunman, Byran Uyesugi, 40, walked into the Xerox office building where he worked and gunned down seven people on Tuesday in the worst mass killing in Hawaii's history. Uyesugi, who had worked at Xerox for 15 years, surrendered to police after a five-hour standoff at a Honolulu nature center.

How can business owners spot signs of potentially violent behavior brewing in the workplace? And what should they do when they do? Those are the kinds of questions that James Hardeman, founder of Workplace Violence Interventions and Strategies in Plymouth, Mass., will address in a workshop from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Oct. 12 at Presidential Caterers, Germantown Pike and Route 202 in East Norriton. The King of Prussia and Montco Chambers of Commerce are sponsoring the program. The deadline for reservations is Wednesday.