Workplace violence during the COVID-19 pandemic: March-October, 2020, United States.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hales, Thomas R. ; Konda S ; Marsh S ; Tiesman, Hope M. ; Tomasi S ; Webb, Sydney ; Wiegand, Douglas M.
• Description:
  Problem: COVID-19 has impacted United States workers and workplaces in multiple ways including workplace violence events (WVEs). This analysis scanned online media sources to identify and describe the characteristics of WVEs related to COVID-19 occurring in the United States during the early phases of the pandemic. Method: Publicly available online media reports were searched for COVID-19-related WVEs during March 1-October 31, 2020. A list of 41 keywords was used to scan four search engines using Natural Language Processing (NLP). Authors manually reviewed media reports for inclusion using the study definition and to code variables of interest. Descriptive statistics were calculated across three types of violence: non-physical, physical, and events with both physical and non-physical violence. Results: The search of media reports found 400 WVEs related to COVID-19 during March 1-October 31, 2020. Of the WVEs, 27% (n = 108) involved non-physical violence, 27% (n = 109) physical violence, and 41% (n = 164) both physical and non-physical violence. Nineteen WVEs could not be assigned to a specific type of violence (5%). Most occurred in retail and dining establishments (n = 192, 48%; n = 74, 19%, respectively). Most WVEs related to COVID-19 were perpetrated by a customer or client (n = 298, 75%), but some were perpetrated by a worker (n = 61, 15%). Most perpetrators were males (n = 234, 59%) and acted alone (n = 313, 79%). The majority of WVEs were related to mask disputes (n = 286, 72%). In 22% of the WVEs, the perpetrator coughed or spit on a worker while threatening infection from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Discussion: This analysis demonstrated that media scraping may be useful for workplace violence surveillance. The pandemic resulted in unique violent events, including those perpetrated by workers. Typical workplace violence prevention strategies may not be effective in reducing COVID-19-related violence. More research on workplace training for workers during public health crises is needed. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Preventive Medicine Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Staff Development Violence Workplace
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Nonfatal Injuries; Workplace Violence; Occupational Safety And Health; COVID-19; Workplace Mask Policies Workplace Violence; COVID-19; Retail Workers; Service Industries; Surveillance; Preventive Measures; Work Environment; Training; Face Masks;
• ISSN:
  0022-4375
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research ; RHD - Respiratory Health Division ; DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  376-384
• Volume:
  82
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065640
• Citation:
  J Safety Res 2022 Sep; 82:376-384
• Contact Point Address:
  Hope Teisman, NIOSH, Division of Safety Research, 1095 Willowdale Road, M/S 1811, Morgantown, WV 26506
• Email:
  htiesman@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Safety Research
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1899d1ca73082a16caade3d436119939480c5e87372ce1a34020833070dbdaeb2400ce3c1fe0d3155be2830b37abfecbe01754c426d1237ac0a3c253a7d70a12
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/248749/cdc_248749_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 760.75 KB ]