Fatal workplace injuries,

3.3/100,000 full-time workers 4,320 A 359

Men Women

335

or

7.8%

were 

homicides B

68

or

18.9%

homicide other fatal injuries homicide other fatal injuries 

Workplace 

Violence

WORKPLACE VIOLENCE is violence 

or the threat of violence toward someone 

working or on duty. While workplace 

violence ranges from physical assault to 

robbery to homicide, the most common 

form is simple assault.F Overall, workplace 

violence has declined in recent years, 

yet workplace homicides of government 

employees have increased. Workers in 

certain occupations—nurses, utility workers, 

taxi drivers, letter carriers, and others who 

work alone or at night—are particularly 

vulnerable to workplace violence. Unlike 

other forms of violence, strangers commit 

the greatest proportion of these crimes.D

NOTE: Data for 2014 unless otherwise indicated. 

Hover for data hyperlinks to source material.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Workplace homicide levels have declined to 403, 

from 468 homicides in 2011B and 1,068 in 1993E

men 

83.1% 403 16.9%

workplace 

homicides B

Percentage of workplace homicides by victim sex and 

relationship to offenderA

Other 

Robbers

assailants

Relatives/

domestic 

partners

Students/

customers

Colleagues

Suspects/

offenders

33

19

28

19 16 12 15 12

2

32

10

1

tranportation 

falls 

equipment 

homicide 

toxic exposure 

other violence/injury by animal 

fire/explosion 

Cause of fatal injury:A

Falls, slips, trips (17%)

Transportation incidents (40%)

Contact with objects/

equipment (15%)

Homicide (9%)

Toxic exposure (8%)

Fire/explosions (3%)

Other violence/

injury by animal (7%)

4,679

fatal workplace 

injuriesA

Workplace Homicide

> 19.1% of workplace homicide victims are 

protective service workers, including 44 police 

officers and 26 security guards B

> 26.3% of workplace homicide victims work in 

sales or retail B

intentional shooting 

stabbing 

beating/shoving 

strangulation 

multiple acts 

Mode of homicide: B

Stabbing (9.7%)

Intentional shooting (76.2%)

Beating/shoving (6.2%)

Strangulation (1.7%)

Multiple acts (2.7%)

Age of workplace homicide victims peaks at

45–54 years oldB
38.4

67.7

government

59.7

private-sector

41.7

Percentage of non-fatal workplace violence committed by 

strangers, by victim sex and employment D

Men

Women

NOTES

*Estimates based on 10 or fewer cases.

SOURCES

A Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal 

Occupational Injuries, 2014 (prelimary data), 

http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cfch0013.pdf

B ---Workplace Homicides with Assailant and 

Circumstance, 2011-2014, http://www.bls.gov/iif/

oshwc/cfoi/work_homicide.pdf

C Bureau of Justice Statistics, Criminal Victimization 

in the United States, 2008: Statistical Tables, 

(Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 

2010), http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/

cvus08.pdf

D Erika Harrell, Workplace Violence Against 

Government Employees, 1994−2011, 

(Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 

2013), http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/

wvage9411.pdf

E ---Workplace Violence: 1993−2009, (Washington, 

DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 2011), http://www.

bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/wv09.pdf

F U.S. Department of Labor, “DOL Workplace 

Violence Program - Appendices,” http://www.dol.

gov/oasam/hrc/policies/dol-workplace-violenceprogram-appendices.htm

Non-Fatal Workplace Violence

56% of government employee 

 workplace violence is against 

law enforcement and security employees D

Excluding law enforcement and security employees, 

the 2011 rate of total workplace violence is:D

8.7/1,000 government workers

4.7/1,000 private-sector workers

vs

From 2002–2011

11.5% of all government employees face an offender 

with a weapon during an incident of workplace violence D

20.3% of all private-sector employees

vs

For 2005-2009, the average annual rate of: E

> Workplace violence: 5 violent crimes/1,000 workers

> Non-workplace violence: 16 violent crimes/1,000 workers

> Violence against those unemployed: 17 violent crimes/1,000 

unemployed persons 

simple assault

aggravated assault

rape/sexual assault

robbery

Non-fatal violent crimes 

against workers in 2008:C

Aggravated assault (14.6%)

Simple assault (81.6%)

Rape/sexual assault (1.9%)*

Robbery (1.7%)*

Workplace violence accounts for C

> 17.8% of all simple assaults

> 12.9% of all aggravated assaults