Work: Safer Than It Used to Be

What is the nature of work?  Recruiters work themselves and then consider what it means to work in various different settings around the world.  When a job candidate gets a job, it feels good to think that he or she will be working in not only a stimulating, productive environment, but also a safe one.

Often the focus on workers’ safety has to do with tools and environmental conditions, but it also has to do with who you are working with on a daily basis.  Did you know that, in terms of violent crimes, it has become a lot safer to go to work since sixteen years ago?

In 1993, 2.1 million nonfatal violent crimes occurred at the workplace.  Not everyone made it out of the workplace alive.  There were 1,068 homicides in the workplace in 1993.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics has released its statistics of violence in the workplace from 2009.  Although the numbers remain staggering, they have dropped significantly since 1993.  In 2009, there were more than 572,000 nonfatal violent crimes—rape, robbery, or assault, and there were 521 homicides.

Who are all of these victims of crimes that happened while people were just trying to make a living?  Law enforcement personnel, security guards and bartenders had the highest rates of nonfatal workplace violence, while persons in retail sales occupations had the highest rate of nonfatal nonworkplace violence.