An article in Workforce Management (www.workforce.com) reveals how two high-profile shootings that occurred on back to back days in Texas and Florida are the latest incidents of workplace violence, and that those tragedies underscore the threat of violence occurring on the job.

According to Workforce Management and several news reports, the suspected gunman in the workplace violence incident in Texas, Major Nidal Malik Hasan – an Army psychiatrist who had reportedly opposed his upcoming deployment –  allegedly went on a shooting rampage that left 13 dead and 42 wounded at the Fort Hood, Texas army post where he worked. Meanwhile, the workplace violence case in Florida centered on Jason Rodriguez, 40, an engineer dismissed for poor performance two years ago who allegedly returned to his former workplace in Orlando, Florida and shot and killed one person while wounding five others, according to Workforce Management and several news reports.

Both incidents, though unrelated on the surface, can be seen as instances of workplace violence according to Workforce Management, and experts on workplace violence suggest that each workplace should have an intervention system and a system to report conflicts, especially since signs of distress that can lead to workplace violence are usually missed unless workers are trained to identify them.

Due in part to the recognition of workplace violence and addressing the problem with background checks and other security measures, workplace violence is following a downward trend. The overall number of murders committed in the workplace has fallen 52 percent from a high of 1,080 workplace homicides in 1994. However, workplace homicides accounted for 517 of the 5,071 workplace fatalities in the U.S. last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and some believe the number of workplace violence incidents are underreported.

Pre-Employ.com is a leading provider of pre-employment background checks and other security options that can help prevent workplace violence and ensure the safety of employers, employees, and the public. For more information about Pre-Employ.com, take a brief tour at www.pre-employ.com/tour, visit www.pre-employ.com, email info@pre-employ.com, or call 1-800-300-1821. To follow Pre-Employ.com on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/PreEmploy.

tahearn@pre-employ.com

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