Georgia employees who get injured as a result of workplace violence may qualify for workers’ compensation. Often when you think of on-the-job injuries occupational violence may not come to mind. Nevertheless, acts of violence on the job are not unusual, so it helps to know the types of circumstances that could possibly threaten your safety.
Employees across various industries fall victim to physical brutality when they are at work. The sectors where violence at work occurs most often are the education, service provider and healthcare sectors. Assaults are among the most common acts of violence. The National Safety Council cites that in 2017 there were nearly 19,000 incidents of reported assaults in the workplace. Most victims of these vicious attacks are women. The reasons why these behaviors take place range from mental illness to robbery.
These brutal attacks cross multiple relationship boundaries. Occupational violence occurs between employees and consumers and/or clients. Sometimes conflicts arise between co-workers that lead to violent interactions. Finally, there are tensions within personal relationships that spill over into a place of business. For example, an angry ex-spouse who comes to your job and inflicts bodily injury on you falls under this category.
It is not easy to predict when an act of workplace violence will occur. However, there are warning signs you can look out for that could result in a potential threat. These include co-workers (or others) who have issues, such as mood swings, paranoia, excessive alcohol and/or drug use, complaints of unfair treatment, violations of company policies and/or sudden poor job performance.
This information provided is for educational purposes, and it is not considered as legal advice.
