The workplace remains a challenging environment for many. There have been instances described here over the years. See Remembering Today (December 2020), Violence, Arising, and Course (August 2021), Violence in the Workplace (August 2021), Workplace Violence Again (December 2022), and Triggered and Violent (June 2023). The violence is not limited to the work environment, but it is becoming either more prevalent or more noticed there. See Domestic Violence (October 2021).
In 2023, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published a report documenting healthcare worker perceptions of harassment at work. The CDC focus defines harassment as "threats, bullying, verbal abuse, or other actions from patients and coworkers that create a hostile work environment." Over thirteen percent of the surveyed workers said they had suffered harassment in 2022. The rate has literally doubled in the last four years. See Health care workers say workplace harassment doubled from 2018 to 2022, survey finds.
HealthCare Finance reports more troubling numbers. It says that "40% of healthcare workers have experienced at least one incident of workplace violence within the past two years." That is challenging from two perspectives. First, this is violence, not harassment. The CDC survey asks a far broader question. Second, the CDC survey demonstrates a significant increase in four years, while the more pervasive figure of 40% represents a far shorter period.
The examples are not limited to healthcare. In 2023 a worker was attacked and beaten by customers in a fast food outlet according to FoxNews. That dispute apparently began with the charge for food, which led to customers waiting for the worker's shift to end. They allegedly ambushed and beat the employee over that dispute. Another location of the same vendor was in the news for an attack on an employee in September 2023, according to People.
The headlines can be difficult to comprehend. The Guardian reports on an incident at another fast food company. There, a "pastor" ("a minister in charge of a Christian church") "attacked his wife’s co-worker while threatening to put his head in a deep fryer." That is very violent. In the end, the worker was spared the fryer, but the good pastor allegedly "punched a worker several times." the incident was captured by cameras, and Dwayne Waden was arrested.
At a different location of that second fast-food chain, a worker was recently accused of attacking four people with a boxcutter. The alleged victims included fellow employees, according to WOWK/CBS. The alleged assailant, Percy Woody, reportedly has a history of alleged violence. Is is becoming difficult to screen applicants, or is the job marked so tight that employers are consciously hiring those with violent history?
The New York Post reported an incident in December involving two people assaulting a delivery driver in Texas. That one was captured on video. Since 2015, I have been reminding of the proliferation of cameras in our society. Assume Everyone is Watching (September 2015). The Post says that one of the assailants in this instance admitted the delivery person to the building and then confronted her for being there.
The world is changing around us. We would perhaps hope that such incidents would be extraordinary. Unfortunately, a quick Internet search turns up violence in the workplace reasonably regularly. And it is not limited to humans. The Daily Mail reported that an engineer was attacked by a robot in 2021, which made the news in December 2023. That story may or may not equate to an "attack," though it is portrayed that way. This is more aptly a malfunction. However, as robots and AI increase, the potential for a robot attack is perhaps a real potential.
The incidents are troubling. The trend is more troubling. There is some apparent tendency towards violence. For whatever reason that is apparent. Is workplace violence increasing? Is the presence of cameras merely making such events more newsworthy or shocking? How are employers and employees to deal with the potential for violent customers, coworkers, and their spouses?
There are a multitude of threats and challenges in the workplace. Violence should be avoidable. However, the news trend suggests that the potential is present and worthy of the daily attention of us all. It may affect our work habits, but perhaps some of us will limit our consumption choices as well. Perhaps some will avoid places, and businesses, in which we perceive the potential for violence?
The ongoing trend thus threatens workers with injury, but also businesses with decreased patronage. In each instance, we see economic and personal injury that is worthy of our consideration and attention.
