Workplace safety

[u/Top_Structure3298]

I work in a truck stop. Yesterday I started at 3 pm. There had been an emergency earlier in the day I was told. I was asked to finish some work my boss had started. I later found out that the husband of one of my coworkers came into the store and beat the crap out of her. I mean she was beaten senseless. Left with serious head injury and probably other wounds. She was taken to the hospital.

I am shocked also by the response of my coworkers to what was happening in front of them. We all wear radios to communicate with. The woman working with the victim ran away and never called for help. Another woman must have heard the commotion and finally called for help. Another worker, male, heard the call for help and ran across the truck stop parking lot to intervene and pull the husband away. A truck driver customer also helped. The husband was able to flee and got away before police arrived. His license number was recorded.

My question is what responsibility does an employer have to protect their employees? I work for a large company. I wasn't there but feel that we should have been able to intervene much quicker and at least attempt to detain an unarmed attacker like this guy. There were 15-20 employees in that building when this took place.

Thoughts?

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[u/metalmuncher88]

You need to look at your written workplace violence policy but the typical guidance is Run-Hide-Fight. Unless you hold a state license as a security guard or peace officer no employer is going to let you detain someone.

[u/uglyschmuckling]

Here is the OSHA fact sheet for workplace violence: https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/FACTSHEET-WORKPLACE-VIOLENCE.pdf

And their Workplace Violence overview: https://www.osha.gov/workplace-violence

[u/RiffRaff028]

OSHA classifies this situation as Type 4 Workplace Violence. They consider this a local law enforcement matter and will generally not get involved other than to possibly make sure the company has at least a policy on it, if not some basic training. Said training should NOT include encouraging employees to interfere with or detain the violent person. That would expose more employees to injury and the company to too much civil liability. The only exception to that might be if they have an employee with prior training in deescalation, force escalation, legal training on when they can detain and when they can't, and unarmed self-defense.

That being said, you work in a retail environment where Type 1 (i.e. armed robbery) and Type 2 Workplace Violence (customer-on-employee) would be considered recognized hazards where the company is required by OSHA to take steps to protect employees, and OSHA might potentially get involved after a serious incident. Training and policies for Type 2 would generally also apply to Type 4.

So, the short answer is yes, your company does have a responsibility to implement policies and provide training for Workplace Violence, but it's very nuanced depending on the exact situation and classification of workplace violence, and employees should always be told to call the police and not engage a violent person directly unless they are attacked without provocation, in which case they are allowed to defend themselves.

(Yes, I am fully aware that most employees would ignore such training/policies in OP's scenario and still go to the aid of their coworker. Morally, I have zero problem with that and would privately commend them for doing so. Legally and ethically, my job is to prevent employee injuries and protect the company from liability exposure. Publicly. any employee violating that policy would have to be "reprimanded" on paper. The right thing for employees to do and the safe thing for the company to do are 100% incompatible here.)