The costs of workplace violence are too high to ignore
Retrieved on:
Thursday, April 25, 2024
In the U.S., more than 2 million workers face violence on the job each year – and those are just the cases that get reported.
Key Points:
- In the U.S., more than 2 million workers face violence on the job each year – and those are just the cases that get reported.
- The effects of workplace violence are profound, including physical and emotional suffering, destroyed careers and harm to companies and society.
- Although estimates differ, researchers have put the cost of workplace violence at as much as US$56 billion annually – and that’s likely an undercount.
Service workers are at risk
- Similarly, a survey by the AFL-CIO found that 53% of hotel workers had experienced harassment on the job.
- Meanwhile, 3 in 4 health care workers report exposure to workplace violence.
- At the same time, men of color and women of all races, who are at elevated risk of having already experienced discrimination, are overrepresented among service industry employees.
Companies fail to prioritize safety
- The potential for cost savings was made clear in another Liberty Mutual report published about two decades later.
- It found that on-the-job violence cost the health and social services sector nearly half a billion dollars in 2022 alone.
- Despite this fact, only about 30% of businesses have established safety and health programs, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Opportunities and solutions exist
- Research shows that a diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging lens in the workplace helps create a feeling of safety and confidence that fosters security.
- Many employees will have experienced forms of discrimination in varying degrees of severity throughout their time in the workplace.
- By adopting a DEIB-informed approach and expressing cultural sensitivity, workplaces can become safer environments for everyone.
- Their evidence-based approach encompasses a variety of interventions against workplace violence and works toward creating meaningful change in industries across the country.
Miranda Kitterlin-Lynch volunteered as a speaker at PAVE Prevention Inc.'s annual summits in 2022 and 2023. She has no financial stake in the organization.