Affiliations: Analysis and Field Evaluations Branch, Division of
Safety Research, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
Morgantown, WV, USA | Etiology and Surveillance Branch, Division of Violence
Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Dan Hartley, Analysis and Field
Evaluations Branch, Division of Safety Research, National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health, 1095 Willowdale Road, M/S 1811, Morgantown, WV
26505, USA. Tel.: +1 304 285 5812; Fax: +1 304 285 6235; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Objective: Contribute to the prevention of workplace violence by
providing information about the nature and circumstances of nonfatal assaults
among U.S. workers. Methods: Data were collected from the National
Electronic Injury Surveillance System occupational supplement (NEISS-Work), a
stratified probability sample of U.S. hospitals. Workplace violence victims
identified from NEISS-Work voluntarily completed a followback interview
detailing the nature and circumstances surrounding their workplace violence
incident. Results: The majority of workplace violence injuries treated in
emergency departments resulted from simple assaults that did not involve any
lost time from work. Almost two-thirds of these workplace violence victims
filed only an internal report. Eighty percent of the victims returned to their
same jobs and will not change the way they do their jobs as a result of the
violent incident. Conclusions: Nonfatal workplace violence is an
important risk for U.S. workers, particularly in some occupations and
industries. Prevention strategies need to be tailored by occupation and work
environment. Results from the healthcare section of this survey indicate high
numbers of incidents during times when the healthcare workers were assisting
patients with medical and non-medical needs.
