Workplace homicides occur in all industries at any time of day. The challenge of protecting workers from workplace violence is to engage them in the issue so they watch out for themselves better, says Miller, a consultant on the issue to private industry and government agencies. Miller is project coordinator for professional development and applied studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Among other things, he talks about workplace violence. On behalf of the Wisconsin Council of Safety, he talked about it with employers in Brookfield and Green Bay last week and in Madison and Eau Claire the week before.
Statistics show workplace homicides are mostly committed by strangers.
In reality, workplace violence is more accurately represented by the murder last week of a Milwaukee grocer at a neighborhood store at N. 13th and Atkinson. Yet, they're more likely to meet death in their homes or on the highway. Occupational murders nationwide have declined every year since 1994, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Also, the fear of workplace violence is growing, based in part on a widespread sense of swelling rage and overall disrespect. Thinking about violence and talking about it are two different matters.