Which Workers Are at Highest Risk of Injuries Due to Violence?

In Maryland workplaces, a majority of employee injuries result from safety issues and negligent acts or omissions. Yet in some cases, workers sustain severe and sometimes fatal injuries due to workplace violence. Maryland workers’ compensation law requires injuries to be “accidental” in order for them to be compensable through the state’s workers’ compensation system, yet the definition of accidental for compensability purposes is broad. Indeed, an accidental personal injury according to the Maryland workers’ compensation system includes an injury resulting from the “willful or negligent act of a third person directed against a covered employee in the course of the employment of the covered employee.” That language of “willful” includes injuries resulting from acts of intentional workplace violence.

While workplace violence can happen in any industry and in any job (albeit such acts of violence may be very rare in certain fields), there are some types of jobs where injuries due to workplace violence are more common than in others. Which jobs in Maryland put workers at highest risk of injuries due to violence? The Maryland workers’ compensation lawyers at the Law Offices of Steinhardt, Siskind and Lieberman, LLC can tell you more.

What is Workplace Violence?

 What is workplace violence? According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), it includes “any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening behavior that occurs at the work site,” and it can include “physical assaults and even homicide.” OSHA reports that workplace violence is actually the “third-leading cause of fatal occupational injuries in the United States.” Unlike injuries resulting from negligent acts or omissions, injuries caused by workplace violence arise from intentional or willful acts.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) keeps statistics about the gender, age, and injury days away from work for employees harmed by workplace violence. Those facts include the following:

• About 73 percent, or nearly three-quarters, of all employees who are injured by acts of workplace violence are female;
• More than 80 percent of workplace violence fatalities affect male employees;
• More than 60 percent of employees injured due to workplace violence are between the ages of 25 and 54;
• About 22 percent required more than one month away from work in order to recover from their injuries; and
• Nearly 400 employees are killed each year in acts of fatal workplace violence.

Jobs Where Employees Are at Greatest Risk of Workplace Violence 

Which types of jobs put workers at greatest risk? According to OSHA and the CDC, nonfatal and fatal workplace violence injuries are most common in the following industries:

• Retail (especially in interactions with customers);
• Health care work (particularly for workers who interact with patients);
• Nursing home work;
• Social services and protective services work;
• Sales; and
• Transportation industries.

Contact a Maryland Workers’ Compensation Attorney 

If you were injured in an act of intentional workplace violence, or if a loved one sustained fatal injuries in an act of workplace violence, it is critical to know that these injuries are often compensable through the Maryland workers’ compensation system. From harm caused by violence in hospitals and transportation industries to grocery and convenience stores, these injuries may entitle you to workers’ compensation benefits. One of the experienced Maryland workers’ compensation attorneys at the Law Offices of Steinhardt, Siskind and Lieberman, LLC can assess the details of your case to help you understand whether you are likely to be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, and we can help you with your claim today. Contact us for additional information.

Sources:

law.justia.com/codes/maryland/labor-and-employment/title-9/

osha.gov/workplace-violence

cdc.gov/niosh/violence/about/index.html#:~:text=Workplace%20violence%20is%20the%20act,physical%20injury%2C%20or%20even%20death