Editor‟s Message
It is once again National End Domestic Violence Month and unfortunately, domestic violence has been in the headlines with the high profile cases in the NFL. It‘s a shame
that it takes the vivid display of violence as shown in the Ray Rice video to get organizations to pay attention to the reality of domestic violence and to think about how it impacts them.
A study by NIOSH indicated that in the past year roughly 19% of employers had an incident of domestic violence occur in their workplace, however, a Bureau of Labor Statistic survey revealed that only 4% of employers trained their employees in how to address domestic violence issues. Bottom line, yes, the NFL has a problem, but they are far from being the only organization that needs to wake up and address domestic violence.
Just when I thought I had seen it all we have a beheading occur in the workplace which has to rank as an all-time low point for workplace violence. It‘s a frightening and horrific reminder that we live in a violent society in a violent time.
We came across some research on bullying in IT that you have to pass on to IT Management in your organization: Over the last few months IDG Connect spoke to numerous industry professionals, consulted a panel of experts and conducted a self-selecting survey of 650 IT professionals to gather over 400 in-depth personal testimonials. The results show 75% of the respondents claim to have been bullied at work and 85% have seen it happen to others.
Finally, we want to extend a very warm welcome to Pam A. Paziotopoulos, Sr. Vice President, Forest Advisors, who is an attorney and seasoned expert in workplace and domestic violence as she joins us as the new columnist for the Domestic Violence Zone.
Also check out Bruce Blythe‘s new column – Threat Management Insights.
Thanks again for joining us this month and stay alert and safe.
Barry
Guidance for Agency-Specific Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Policies
Domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking are serious problems that can affect individuals, families, and communities. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men in the U.S. have experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner. The effects of these spill over to the workplace in numerous ways, introducing significant costs and safety concerns. The CDC estimates that domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking cost nearly $8 billion a year in lost productivity, health care costs, and earnings. The Guidance was written to provide direction to federal agencies, however, it also serves as a model which private firms can emulate.
View the full policy DECISIONPOINT
This column is designed to help sharpen your judgment in providing valuable advice regarding how to handle incidents of aggression.
Does an employer who is supervising the work of contractors violate a common law duty to provide a safe workplace by failing to ensure that contractors working on site have no history of violence?
The Situation:
On November 14, 2007, Ray Troup (Troup) was employed as a security guard at a construction project in New York , NY b y Eddington Securit y. Before becoming licensed as a security guard, Troup‘s training included an 8 hour course and a 16 hour course. Bovis Lend Lease LMB, Inc. (Bovis), and all of the subcon- tractors were engaged by and reported to Bovis. Bovis was in charge of safety-related matters at the site, and a Bovis employee was the Superintendent managing the project. Troup took his direction from Eddington.
There were no guidelines or requirements for any of the employees hired to perform work at the job site other than union membership. Thus, no background checks or investigations as to whether any newly-hired employees
had a violent criminal record were conducted. Continued on page 22
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