Work-Related Physical Assault

Violence in the workplace is a serious public health problem. Yet, to date, little has been documented relevant to non-fatal events associated with physical assault. The aim of the present study was to identify the magnitude of work-related physical assault in Minnesota and to identify potential ris...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of occupational and environmental medicine 1998-04, Vol.40 (4), p.317-324
Main Authors: LaMar, Wanda J., Gerberich, Susan Goodwin, Lohman, William H., Zaidman, Brian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Assaults
Biological and medical sciences
Ergonomics. Workplace layout. Occupational psychology
Female
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Minnesota
Occupational Health - statistics & numerical data
Occupational medicine
Occupational psychology
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Public health
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Violence - economics
Violence - statistics & numerical data
Workers' Compensation - statistics & numerical data
Workplace violence
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Summary:Violence in the workplace is a serious public health problem. Yet, to date, little has been documented relevant to non-fatal events associated with physical assault. The aim of the present study was to identify the magnitude of work-related physical assault in Minnesota and to identify potential risk factors; both fatal and non-fatal cases were included. Minnesota workers' compensation records, relevant to assault, were used to identify 712 cases involving more than three days of lost work time for 1992; six homicide cases were included. Assault rates were calculated by industry and occupation. Women had an assault rate twice that of men (51 versus 26 per 100,000 workers). Workers in industnes of social services (340), health services (202), and transportation (914) had the highest rates of assault per 100,000 full-time employees. The fact that in addition to overall workers' compensation costs of $1.6 million, the average lost time for closed compensated cases was 54 days (median, 14 days) and time to reach maximum medical improvement for 44% of the cases reporting was 156 days (median, 83 days), indicates a major problem. The findings suggest that specific groups of workers are at risk for physical assault on the job. Further research is essential to identify specific risk factors that will enable the development of appropriate prevention strategies.
ISSN:1076-2752
1536-5948
DOI:10.1097/00043764-199804000-00005