A workplace violence hazard is essentially a condition specific to the worksite, department or operation with a risk factor for one or more of the four workplace violence types defined by the law.

California law requires employers to proactively identify and evaluate potential workplace violence hazards, and then take actions to correct/mitigate them. Employers will identify hazards mainly in two ways:

• Periodic inspections conducted by the employer; and
• Employee identification and reporting of potential hazards to employers.

When developing their workplace violence prevention plans, the first thing employers should do is proactively conduct an inspection of the workplace to identify potential hazards. California law requires employers to conduct periodic inspections of their worksite when their workplace violence prevention plan is first established, after each workplace violence incident, and whenever the employer is made aware of a new or previously unrecognized hazard.1

Employers must also actively involve their employees in this process, implementing procedures in their workplace violence prevention plan allowing employees to identify and report potential hazards and offer suggestions for mitigating the hazard.2 This can be done, for example, through a hazard identification form, direct reporting to supervisors or some other method, so long as it is effective.

When hazards are identified, either through inspection or employee identification, employers must evaluate them, take corrective action(s) (mitigation), and keep all related records (e.g., the employee's report of the potential hazard, employer evaluation/notes, and records of any corrective actions taken).

Inspecting the workplace to identify workplace violence hazards may require assessment for more than one type of workplace violence. For example, employers should consider potential workplace violence hazards from non-employees (Type 1, Type 2 and Type 4 violence), as well as risks of workplace violence from employees or former employees (Type 3 violence).

The following sections will discuss workplace violence risk factors and considerations in more detail based on the legally defined workplace violence types:

• Work Conditions, Industries With Increased Risk of Workplace Violence
• Behavioral Indicators, Warning Signs for Workplace Violence
• How Workplace Bullying Can Escalate to Harassment
• Social and Economic Considerations in Hazard Identification

Work Conditions, Industries With Increased Risk of Workplace Violence

When assessing the worksite for hazards, there are some work conditions and industries that have heightened risk factors for the types of workplace violence committed by non-employees, including, for example, violence committed by a person who has no legitimate business at the worksite (Type 1 violence) such as someone intending to commit a crime, and violence that is directed at employees by members of the public such as customers, clients, patients, or visitors (Type 2 violence).

The list of workplace hazards provided below is intended to offer examples of potential hazards that may exist in various work environments. It is not exhaustive, and every worksite is unique, with its own specific challenges and potential hazards. To ensure full compliance with California's workplace violence prevention requirements and to safeguard the well-being of your employees, it is essential that you conduct a thorough, site-specific hazard assessment.

• Security Measures: Workplaces with inadequate or non-functioning security measures may have an increased workplace violence risk. Appropriate security measures depend on the specific worksite or operation, but they may include, for example, lock and key systems, key card/code access management systems, security cameras, alarms, physical barriers, security windows, and others.
• Environmental Factors: There may be potential workplace violence hazards from criminal acts at any workplace with inadequate exterior and interior lighting, poor visibility or isolated work areas.
• Cash Transactions and Valuables: Workplaces with cash transactions and other valuables (electronics, jewelry, etc.) on the premises act as magnets to the opportunistic criminal and increase the risk of theft, shoplifting, robbery and other criminal acts, which could result in violence. Examples of workers at risk: retail operators, fast-food cashiers, gas station attendants.
• Frequent Public Interaction: Frequent interaction with members of the public (customers, clients, patrons, etc.) may increase the risk of violence in the workplace, depending on the nature of the business. Example of workers at risk: employees in service industries such as hospitality, health care, retail, education, transportation, sporting events, theme parks, tourist attractions, etc.
• Working With Unstable Individuals: Unstable individuals are those who behave unpredictably on any given day. This instability is sometimes accompanied by aggressive acting out. Examples of workers at risk: nurses, social assistance workers, psychiatric hospital employees.
• Working in Locations Where Alcohol Is Served: There is a high correlation between substance abuse and violent/aggressive behavior. Therefore, there is an increased risk in workplaces where alcohol is served, as there is a risk of abuse in these environments. Examples of workers at risk: bartenders, sports arena workers.
• Working in Small Numbers or Alone: People searching for criminal opportunities often target workplaces where there are fewer, rather than more, workers. These opportunists search for an employee who is distracted by other customers or duties, for example. Example of workers at risk: cashiers at small retail businesses.
• Working Late-Night or Early-Morning Hours: Workplaces that operate during late-night and early- morning hours often do business in the dark. This darkness provides cover to those seeking to commit criminal acts. Example of workers at risk: gas station workers or convenience store employees.
• Performing Collections: Financial pressures are often accompanied by feelings of desperation, which can lead to feelings of persecution that often are directed toward the individual applying the pressure. Example of workers at risk: customer service employees for gas and electric companies.

Many Californians work in conditions such as those listed above. Employers may believe that because violence is random and unpredictable, nothing can be done to prepare for it. But that's not the case; the key to reducing violence in these settings, and in all settings, is bringing awareness, i.e., proactively identifying, evaluating and correcting workplace violence hazards, along with implementing appropriate policies and training in compliance with California's workplace violence prevention requirements.

Behavioral Indicators, Warning Signs for Workplace Violence

Workplace violence against an employee by a present or former employee, supervisor or manager (Type 3 violence) is another potential hazard employers must assess when conducting inspections and establishing their workplace violence prevention plan.

The percentage of individuals who perpetrate major acts of violence is relatively small; however, the majority of severely violent incidents were initiated by individuals who showed one or more warning signs or behaviors. At first glance, it’s impossible to know which people who exhibit these behaviors will escalate to hands-on violence and which will not.

• Don’t allow violent behaviors to go unaddressed. At best, people who display these inappropriate behaviors must learn better ways to express their needs. At worst, these are dangerous individuals.

The existence of one or more of these warning signs is not a guarantee of workplace violence. Warning signs play an important role in recognizing potential perpetrators of violence, but organizations can take several highly recommended steps to reduce the frequency and severity of violent incidents in the workplace.

There also is a widely held assumption that violence is perpetrated by a once mild-mannered individual who simply got to a place where they could no longer take the pressure of everyday life. The belief further states that this individual simply “lost it” and behaved in an entirely “unexpected” manner. But reality suggests that people who perpetrate the most violent acts often demonstrate one or more of the following behaviors:

• Changes in mental functioning. Often, employees who are escalating toward violence demonstrate significant, even severe, changes in psychological functioning. These changes can include depression, agitation, disorientation and expressions of desperation. Often, co-workers detect a drastic change in interactive style on the part of a troubled employee. The once bright and positive individual begins to express pessimism and despair for example.
  
  
• Substance abuse. There is a .84 correlation between substance abuse and violence.3 An overwhelming majority of perpetrators of violence are believed to abuse substances, according to the Department of Justice, and approximately one quarter of the people who have been arrested for perpetrating violence at work were reported to be actively under the influence when the incident occurred. Employers should, however, use caution in this area. California law protects employees from discrimination based on their use of cannabis off-duty and away from the worksite.4


• Sub-par performance. Very often, individuals who go on to perpetrate incidents of violence are poor performers who have had multiple disciplinary and/or counseling sessions. Sometimes the poor performance is related to insubordination and a refusal to follow instructions. Just as often, the poor performance is related to the employee being distracted by personal issues and allowing performance to take a back seat.


• Narcissism. Frequently, those who go on to perpetrate violence against others show an inflated sense of self-importance. This individual sometimes displays an inability (or unwillingness) to listen to others, pay attention to others or acknowledge others' needs. The narcissist is often described as “ruthless” — because of the person's perceived need to win/succeed at any cost, even to the point of cruelty to others — and “thin-skinned,” which describes the individual's response to feedback. Often, the slightest critique is seen as a personal attack and is followed by angry and volatile outbursts.


• Dehumanizing others and other forms of verbal abuse. Dehumanization is the act of rendering a human being as less than human. After people have been dehumanized, they're seen as no different than objects. Then, they can be treated as objects. Name calling, gender slurs and racial slurs are common signs that a person dehumanizes other people. This behavior is prevalent among those who act out violently.


• Disregard for policies and procedures. Violent individuals often behave as though the rules do not apply to them. It is not uncommon to see those with the highest propensity for violence abuse an organization's leave policy, regularly show up late for work, take overly long breaks or show insubordination to supervisors. Employers would be wise to pay attention to the individual who has repeatedly violated company policies and procedures.


• Low tolerance for change. Imagine your organization issued a new — and very unpopular — policy. The majority of your employees express a little irritation. But one employee fumes for hours after the notice goes out. This behavior is commonly seen in violent individuals. Their reaction to events is often seen as an overreaction. They have a tendency to throw tantrums, might slam doors, throw things and clench their hands and teeth.


• Poor peer relationships. The loner is often associated with an increased risk for violence. But how do you define “loner”? What is it that makes a loner more violent? A loner is not a shy or reserved individual. Shyness or a quiet personality does not, in and of itself, indicate an increased risk of violence. Loners behave as though they believe that they're better or smarter than their peers. Very often, loners will refuse to work on a team project, instead insisting to work on their own. These individuals rarely express any interest in participating in office luncheons or in any social gathering.
  
  A person who displays poor peer relationships often shows poor reality testing: Their sense of what's real and what's not real can be warped or skewed. Because they push everyone out of their lives, there is no one to challenge the loner's perspective or offer alternative viewpoints.


• Fascination with weapons. People who act out violently often demonstrate a fascination or unusual preoccupation with weapons. This fascination is often demonstrated by the incessant discussion of weapons and/or the damage that said weapons can cause. People fascinated with weapons often present as insecure. They are often perceived as people who are uncomfortable using words to express themselves.


• Unusual (obsessive) focus on violent incidents. In many instances, the individual who goes on to perpetrate violence has shown a deep fascination with prior incidents of violence. Sometimes, this deep fascination is displayed by constant searching for news articles on the incidents; searching for background information on the perpetrators of the incidents; collecting pictures and other accounts of the incidents from the media; and discussing the perpetrators in hero-like terms.


• Blaming others. People who perpetrate severe violence often exhibit an unwillingness or inability to take responsibility for their actions. These individuals often express a belief that others want to hurt them. Violent people often believe that they are being picked on. The violent person may blame others as a way to rationalize their inappropriate behavior. This blaming behavior may be a manifestation of their feelings of persecution.


• Bullying, aggression and hostility at work. Bullying includes the infliction of abusive, malicious and humiliating behavior upon another. Most often, bullying is intentional behavior as opposed to unintentional or accidental. In other words, the bully behaves in a manner that suggests the individual intends to inflict pain and suffering onto another. For more information, see “How Workplace Bullying Workplace Can Escalate to Harassment” below.

It's important to note that this list doesn't constitute a profile of the violent individual. Furthermore, the observation of one or more of these behaviors is not a guarantee of violence to come. These behaviors do, however, suggest that something is amiss and warrants intervention.

How Workplace Bullying Can Escalate to Harassment

Research suggests that certain environmental conditions allow bullying, violence and harassment to occur in the workplace. What's more, when looking at the definitions of these behaviors side by side, certain themes (abusive, hostile and threatening) present themselves. Consider the following definitions.

• Bullying: the repeated infliction of intentional, malicious, and abusive conduct which interferes with a person's ability to do their work and is substantial enough to cause physical and/or psychological harm and a reasonable person would find hostile or offensive.
• Harassment: the existence of an environment that is threatening, intimidating, hostile and offensive, based on one’s membership in a protected class. For more information, see Hostile Environment Harassment.
• Workplace violence: any act of violence or “threat of violence” that occurs in a place of employment. A threat of violence includes any verbal or written statement, including, but not limited to, texts, electronic messages, social media messages or other online posts, or any behavioral or physical conduct that conveys an intent,or that is reasonably perceived to convey an intent, to cause physical harm or to place someone in fear of physical harm, and that serves no legitimate purpose.

A frequently asked question is, “Why/how does behavior escalate from bullying to harassment?” Bullying often takes the form of taunting, teasing and making another person the target of the joke. When the teasing and taunting revolves around one's protected class, it escalates to harassment.

Another frequently asked question is, “Why/how does harassment escalate to violence?” Several scenarios may be at play. One scenario can erupt when the object of affection rejects the potentially violent individual. That rejection can provide an excuse to become violent. Similarly, when the bullying target decides not to put up with the bullying (either by reporting the behavior or by acting aggressively toward the bully), the bully often sees violent acting out as a reasonable next step.

In other scenarios, the individual does not act out of sexual attraction or desire, but still targets the person with sexually explicit behavior/language (such as lewd comments about another person's body in an inflammatory manner) or other inappropriate comments or conduct, such as racial epithets or other derogatory comments or actions.

Teasing and heckling amongst coworkers is a frequent occurrence in the workplace. What's more, there’s a great deal of research that suggests having fun at work is important to team building and productivity. However, several signs can indicate that the fun-making has taken a turn toward aggression:

• Non-reciprocity: Employees take shots at another employee, but they’re not participating in the “fun.” It is one-way.
• Targeting: Often, inappropriate behavior is targeted to one individual (or group). You will recognize this as “picked on” behavior (bullying), where there is one person that many of the other employees direct their aggressive behavior toward.
• Personal: The teasing is of a personal nature. Acceptable one-upmanship might include joking about one’s favorite sports team versus another team. Unacceptable teasing often includes something personal about the targeted employee (their body type or hairstyle, for example).
• Bias: Teasing takes place against a protected group.

Because abusive conduct can often lead to unlawful harassment, California law requires a component relating to abusive conduct in mandatory supervisor sexual harassment prevention training. For more information, see “Abusive Conduct Training” in Workplace Violence Prevention Training.

Minimizing bullying may assist in the minimization of harassment and violence in your workplace as well. How can you minimize the occurrence of bullying in your workplace?

• Don't focus solely on numbers. Instead, encourage employee engagement in the company's goals.
• Make sure your employees recognize that there is regard for their safety and security.
• Institute a documenting and reporting process for your employees to follow if they believe they're being bullied.
• Be careful that you don't reward only the strong, aggressive personality.
• Apply your policies consistently and fairly. Often, top performers are allowed to get away with overly aggressive behavior.
• Encourage interactions that are respectful.
• Train your leaders to avoid passive aggressive behaviors.
• Don't allow your employees to have fun at the expense of others (especially those perceived as weak). Even if hostile behaviors don't rise to the legal level of harassment, be sure to intervene early and stop personal attacks. If camaraderie or “fun” is at the expense of other employees, it can sometimes be cruel and inappropriate.
• Make sure supervisors pay attention to the formation of cliques or “in” groups. Wherever “in groups” exist, “out groups” also exist. These are groups made up of individuals who are perceived as unpopular and less valuable to the organization. Combat this by making sure that everyone in your organization realizes that their role is important and vital to the organization's success.

The bottom line is that it's difficult to establish a causal relationship between bullying and workplace violence because the two often coexist. In hindsight, it's often found that the individual who went on to become physically violent had, in the past, also been abusive and threatening.

Social and Economic Considerations in Hazard Identification

In addition to the work conditions/industries with increased risk for workplace violence and behavioral indicators (see "Work Conditions, Industries With Increased Risk of Workplace Violence" and "Behavioral Indicators, Warning Signs for Workplace Violence," respectively, above), research suggests that individuals with an inclination to act out are more likely to do so when social and economic pressures are highest in their lives. To be clear, these social and economic pressures do not cause violence; they coexist at a higher-than-expected rate with incidents of violence.

Employers should be aware that the risk for violence increases during the following times/seasons:

• Tax return season;
• Leading up to and during major holidays; and
• Performance appraisal periods.

• When assessing risk, consider economic pressures such as layoffs, unemployment and other measures of financial difficulty.

When assessing the risk of violence in your workplace, include research on prior violent events in that particular workplace and surrounding businesses and competitors. Contact local law enforcement authorities for more information on violence that occurs at or near your workplace.

Reviewing personnel files can uncover a trend or pattern of an employee whose prior workplace conduct may indicate violent conduct in the future.

Also consider the spread of hours in which employees are in the workplace. For example, a would-be rapist is less likely to enter a downtown high rise during the day when the office is full of people than during the evening when a skeleton crew is on duty.

Also, pay attention to upcoming changes in your workplace. Although layoffs, terminations, demotions and disciplinary actions do not cause workplace violence, they are sometimes used as an excuse by the already-escalating employee to rationalize violence. Likewise, pay attention to the employee who fails to obtain an expected promotion or one who believes that his complaints and grievances did not receive a proper response, as these events are often used by violent individuals as fuel for their escalating hostility.

Be sure to recognize obsessive romantic interest in a coworker that is not returned. Numerous incidents of violence were perpetrated by individuals who reported that they were frustrated in their attempts to initiate relationships.

Remember, these events in the lives of violent individuals do not cause violence. Rather, these events are more accurately described as sometimes coexisting with violence. Data suggests that for some people in our society, aggressive acting out is a part of how they behave. The coexisting event increases the person's perceived stress level. This increase in stress is often the triggering event or excuse that the individual uses to act out.

The list of workplace hazards discussed in this section is not exhaustive; rather, it's intended to provide some examples of potential hazards to help employers get started in thinking about their own worksites, all of which are unique, with their own potential hazards. To comply with California's workplace violence prevention requirements and to safeguard the well-being of your employees, it is essential that you conduct a thorough hazard assessment of your worksite.

1. Lab. Code sec. 6401.9(c)(2)(I)

2. Lab. Code sec. 6401.9(c)(2)(B)

3. National Crime Victimization Survey and the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries: U. S. Department of Justice, 2011

4. Gov. Code sec. 12954