Workplace Violence is Not Domestic
Women's groups assertions are without merit
The following was printed in the February 1998
edition of "Compliance Magazine," which is a trade publication for
industrial safety professionals. Their website is www.compliancemag.com.
The article was called "Speaking with Alan F. Hoskin." He is the Manager,
Statistics Department, National Safety Council, 1121 Spring Lake Drive,
Itasca, Ill, 60143-3201. Phone 630-775-2365, fax 630-285-0242. His
organization issues a ppublication called "Accident Facts" each September,
using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
He says, "Only in recent years have we learned that violence in the workplace is a
major problem. Violence is the second leading cause of death in the
workplace after traffic incidents. It also is an important contributor to
nonfatal injuries in certain occupations such as nursing. Nonfatal
incidents most commonly involve assaults by patients in healthcare settings.
In the case of fatalities, the violence is usually related to robbery and
involves retail clerks....The highest numbers of deaths occur in common
occupations. Again in 1996, there were 785 deaths of truck drivers, 569
deaths of those in farm occupations, and 291 construction laborers died of
work injuries. The most common fatal events for all three of these
occupations were vehicular incidents, both on and off the highway."
No where in his article is gender mentioned at all, and no where does it
mention personally motivated violence of any sort. I'd like to see some
stats on gender and workplace death, though, because obviously, more truck
drivers, farmers, and construction laborers are men.
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