Factors contributing to potential risk of workplace violence:

• Exchange of money
• Working alone at night, during early morning hours
• Availability of valued items, e.g., money and jewelry
• Guarding money or valuable property or possessions
• Performing public safety functions in the community
• Working with patients, clients, passengers, customers or students known or suspected to have a history of violence
• Employees with a history of assaults or who have exhibited belligerent, intimidating or threatening behavior to others

Categories of Workplace Violence

Type I. Agent has no legitimate business relationship to the workplace and usually enters the affected workplace to commit a robbery or other criminal act.

Type II. Agent is either the recipient, or the object, of a service provided by the affected workplace or the victim, e.g., the assailant is a current or former client, patient, customer, passenger, criminal suspect, inmate or prisoner.

Type III. Agent has some employment-related involvement with the affected workplace. Usually this involves an assault by a current or former employee, supervisor or manager; by a current/former spouse or lover; a relative or friend; or some other person who has a dispute with an employee of the affected workplace.

Preventive Strategies for Types I, II, III Workplace Violence

According to The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative, only just over one-quarter of school shooting incidents are stopped through law enforcement intervention. Despite prompt law enforcement responses, most are stopped through intervention by school administrators, educators and students-or by the attacker stopping on his own. One-quarter of the incidents were over within 5 minutes of their inception, close to half lasted 15 minutes or less.

The report also suggests that some future attacks may be preventable. The short duration of most incidents of targeted school violence underscores the importance of developing preventive measures in addition to emergency planning for a school or school district.

The California Education Code mandates each school have (all-hazard) plan, the plan be drafted in consultation with law enforcement and emergency services personnel, and updated by March 1  each year.