What is the Work Violence? * Assaults and other violent acts or threats that occur in or are related to the workplace and entail a substantial risk of physical or emotional harm to individuals or damage to company resources or capabilities. Workplace violence may involve employees, clients and vendors of the affected organization as well as those who do not have a relationship with the organization but who may know the intended victims. Work Violence target is the person toward whom the threat of violence is directed. * Every year, nearly half of US workers report having faced aggression from coworkers, customers, or supervisors. And according to OSH, roughly 20,000 assaults and 792 homicides occurred at workplaces throughout the US in 2005. Such violence prompted the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to label workplace violence a “national epidemic”. * According to the Society of Human Resource Management Workplace, Almost two-thirds of HR professionals stated there had been some sort of violence at their organization within a three year time span. The breakdown of workplace violence incidents is as follows:
54% - Inappropriate language 13% - Verbal abuse 7% - Verbal threats of violence
6% - Sexual harassment 5% - Burglary 4% - Pushing/Shoving
3% - Fistfight 3% - Threatening emails 2% - Stalking
1% - Robbery (holdup) 1% - Bomb threat

Causes of Work Violence; * Some employers have not yet fully addressed the issue of workplace violence; their negligence has not necessarily been purposeful. It has been due to a lack of awareness of the problem coupled with a preoccupation with everyday work and management pressures. This has caused employers to ignore some of the organizational factors that have contributed to workplace violence. Some of those factors include: 1. A weak, misunderstood or non-existent policy against all forms of violence in the workplace 2. Failure to educate managers and supervisors in recognizing early warning signs or symptoms of impending violence and their responsibility to take action 3. No appropriate and safe mechanism for reporting violent or threatening behavior 4. Failure to take immediate action against those who have threatened or committed acts of workplace violence 5. Inadequate physical security 6. Negligence in the hiring, training, supervision, discipline and retention of employees 7. Lack of in-house employee support systems
Work Violence Alternatives; 1. Adopt and promote a prevention and reparation anti violence policies 2. Managers need to be aware of at-risk employees who may commit violent acts and should encourage employees to report any threatening or suspicious behavior. 3. Metal detectors to be installed to prevent future violence.

Work Violence Alternatives Justifications; 1. Adopt and promote a prevention and reparation anti violence policies
Create a prevention policy involving each level of the organization: management, employees and union representatives. The organization must make sure information about the new policy is widely distributed, that all employees know the policy and encourage everyone to make it their own Put a system in place to record all acts of violence by creating, for example, an Event Report Form. Set up procedures to handle complaints impartially, confidentially and quickly. These should include measures to prevent any recurrence workplace violence. It is critical to ensure that the victim employee feels safe against retaliation and has the right, if needed, to be represented when interviewed by an independent and qualified investigator.

2. Managers need to be aware of at-risk employees who may commit violent acts and should encourage employees to report any threatening or suspicious behavior.
Open effective lines of communication, because aggressors thrive on the silence of victims and witnesses. Communication is a key factor in the well-being of employees. Promote communication and regular meetings of your work teams. Strong lines of communication will not only rally employees against violence, they also reduce the risk of workplace violence by defusing tensions and clarifying situations and misunderstandings.

3. Metal detectors to be installed to prevent future violence.
In Workplace where violence may occurs, metal detectors can help make them safer. Metal detectors, if used responsibly can prevent violence in work place by eliminating the possessions of weapons that can cause great harm.

Recommendation
Adopting and promoting a prevention and reparation anti violence policies will lead to less violence as every employee will be aware of procedures to handle complaints impartially, confidentially and quickly and this will lead to prevent any recurrence workplace violence.