A Threat That Knows No Job Description

Violence in the workplace is a fairly rare occurrence in the United States, despite the heavy media coverage such incidents attract. The number of workplace homicides fell from 518 in 2010 to 417 in 2015, the last year for which complete statistics are available. Of these cases, only an average of 12 percent were committed by a current or former co-worker. Relatives or domestic partners were responsible for about 43 percent of workplace homicides involving a female victim, and strangers, too, are frequently to blame for killing employees at work, for example during an armed robbery. Still, episodes of workplace violence are often serious. And in most cases, they are preventable....