Violence and Harassment In The Workplace:
The 9 Most Common Myths of Workplace Violence

Myth:	Workplace violence is rare.
Reality:	While workplace violence includes an annual average of 1,000 homicides, it more often means assault, assault with a weapon, rape, sexual assault, and robbery. In four out of five violent incidents at work, perpetrators are unarmed.
Myth:	Workplace violence only happens at the Post Office
Reality:	Although the U.S. Postal Service has a bad reputation when it comes to workplace violence (and "going postal" has become a synonym for worker rage), only 3.1 percent of non-fatal incidents at work occur within federal government agencies. Workplace violence can happen anywhere with little or no relationship to a company's product service, size, location, or history.
Myth:	Workplace violence is a "guy thing", and women shouldn't worry about it.
Reality:	Homicide is the number-one cause of death for women at work. For non-fatal workplace attacks, women are more vulnerable than men to violence from acquaintances, friends, relatives, and current or former spouses or partners. Plus, two-thirds of all non-fatal workplace assaults occur in hospitals, nursing homes, residential care facilities, and other social-service locations where women comprise the vast majority of employees.
Myth:	The personal problems of managers and employees don't affect the workplace.
Reality:	Relatives, friends, and acquaintances are behind 49.4 percent of workplace attacks on women and 30.3 percent of workplace attacks on men. Homicide is the number-one cause of death for women at work, and of women who are killed at work, one out of five is at the hands of her current or former spouse or partner. When personal problems show up at work, everyone is at risk.
Myth:	Security guards and metal detectors prevent workplace violence
Reality:	Security guards, as well as metal detectors and other security hardware, are helpful in preventing workplace violence from external sources who have no ongoing relationship with an organization. However, they are not helpful in preventing violence from internal sources such as current or former employees, employees' families, friends, and acquaintances, and others who are "familiar" to an organization.
Myth:	Demographic profiles are the most useful tool in predicting who will become violent at work.
Reality:	Demographic profiles are too generic to be useful in predicting who will become violent at work because they focus on gender, race, and age. To avoid generalizing or stereotyping, managers and coworkers must focus on observable behaviors instead.
Myth:	There is no way to predict workplace violence.
Reality:	Managers and coworkers can anticipate, assess, and even manage the risk of internal sources of workplace violence by identifying and addressing high-risk employee behaviors before they escalate into violence.
Myth:	Workplace violence cannot be prevented
Reality:	Workplace violence can be prevented if and when executives and managers are willing to adopt a system-oriented approach within their companies that includes early intervention for employees who exhibit high-risk behaviors.