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Each year, nearly one million individuals become victims of violent crime while working or on duty. These victimizations account for 15 percent of the over six-and-a-half million acts of violence experienced by Americans age 12 or older. (Ronet Bachman, Ph.D., July 1994, "Violence and Theft in the Workplace," page 1, National Crime Victimization Survey, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.)

Crime victimizations occurring in the workplace cost about half a million employees 1,751,100 days of work each year, an average of 3.5 days per crime. This missed work resulted in over $55 million in lost wages annually, not including days covered by sick and annual leave. (Ibid., page 1)

Victims who were working were as likely to face armed offenders as those victimized while not working. Over 30 percent of victims who were working during a violent victimization faced armed offenders. Almost a third of these offenders had a handgun. (Ibid., page 1)

Six out of ten incidents of workplace violence occurred in private companies. (Ibid., page 1).

Homicide was the third leading cause of occupational death from 1980 to 1985, accounting for 13 percent of all workplace deaths. Homicide is the leading cause of death in the workplace for women. (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1992,

"Homicide in U.S. Workplace," Morgantown. W V)

According to a 1993 survey, more than two million Americans were victims of a physical attack at work during the past year. Another six million Americans workers were threatened, and 16 million were harassed. (Northwestern National Life Insurance Company, 1993, "Fear and Violence in the Workplace," page 4, Minneapolis, MN)

Victims of violence or harassment experienced twice the rate of stress-related conditions, including depression, anger, insomnia, headaches and ulcers as non-victims (35 percent versus 18 percent); were 20 times more likely to say their productivity was reduced (21 percent versus one percent); and were ten times more likely to want to change jobs (39 percent versus four percent). (Ibid., page 6)

Most attackers and harassers were people that victims dealt with on a daily basis. Customers, clients and patients accounted for the largest segment of attackers (44 percent). Co-workers and bosses accounted for 86 percent of all harassment at work, one-third of threats, and one-fourth of workplace attacks. (Ibid., page 10)

The rate of workplace homicide has tripled in the last decade, and is now one of the fastest growing types of homicide in the United States. (S. Anthony Baron, Ph.D., 1993, Violence in the Workplace: A Prevention and Management Guide for Businesses, page 15, Pathfinder Publishing, Ventura, CA)

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