Violence among postal workers is a misnomer
Violence among postal workers is a misnomer
"Going postal" is a myth: Postal workers are no more likely to physically assault, sexually harass, or verbally abuse their co-workers than employees in other occupations, according to a report from the independent U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Commission on A Safe and Secure Workplace.
Prepared by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in New York City, the report was presented to the postmaster general recently by Joseph Califano Jr., chairman of the commission and president of center.
Do postal workers get a bad rap?
The 249-page report concludes two years of study and reveals that postal workers are only a third as likely as those in the national work force to be victims of homicide at work (0.26 vs. 0.77 per 100,000 workers annually from 1992 through 1998, the most recent comparable data available). In comparing industries, retail workers are eight times likelier than postal employees to be homicide victims at work; comparing occupations, taxi drivers are 150 times likelier than letter carriers to be homicide victims at work.
"Going postal’ is a myth, a bad rap," Califano said, "causing unnecessary apprehension and fear among 900,000 postal workers. This report should shatter the myth that postal workers are more violent than other workers and discourage the pejorative use of that expression."
The groundbreaking report includes the most comprehensive survey ever conducted of violence in the American workforce. Of the nearly 12,000 postal workers and 3,000 employees in the national workforce surveyed, one in 20 was physically assaulted at work in the past year (5% of both postal workers and those in the national workforce). More than one in six were sexually harassed at work (14% of postal workers and 16% of those in the national workforce). About a third of workers were verbally abused on the job (36% of postal workers and 33% of those in the national workforce).
The commission called this a "disturbing and unacceptable level of violence in the American workplace." The commission also found that postal workers are about as likely as those in the national workforce to be victims of physical assault by co-workers (4% vs. 3%), but less likely to be victims of physical assault by outsiders (0.4% vs. 2.3%).
"We hope that this report will help achieve the goal of making the Postal Service the gold standard for safe and secure workplaces for all American workers and that it will be of use to other public and private employers and labor leaders as well," Califano said.
The independent commission was created in 1998 by Postmaster General William J. Henderson to "detail concrete steps the Postal Service can take to make its 38,000 post offices and related facilities the safest possible environment." The USPS is the second largest civilian employer in the country, delivering some 3.4 billion pieces of mail weekly.
The commission conducted a meticulous examination of the 29 incidents of workplace homicide involving postal workers as either victims or perpetrators from 1986 to 1999. This revealed that 15 postal employee perpetrators killed 34 postal employees; 19 nonpostal perpetrators killed 14 postal employees. Fourteen of 15 postal perpetrators had troubled histories of violence, mental illness, substance abuse and/or criminal convictions. Five exhibited behavior prior to employment that should have excluded them from being hired.
Motives included robbery, intimate relationships, and terminations. Male veterans were no more likely than other male postal employees to be perpetrators of homicides. Guns were used in all the homicides by postal employee perpetrators and 90% of homicides by nonpostal perpetrators. Most perpetrators (20 of 34) either had a known history of substance abuse or were known to be under the influence of alcohol or illicit drugs at the time of the homicide. The number likely is higher because investigations in most other cases were inconclusive.
In examining homicides for workers from 1992 through 1998 in all major industries, the commission found that, at 2.10 per 100,000, the retail trade had the highest rate, followed by public administration, including police, at 1.66 per 100,000.
Among occupations, the commission found homicide rates were highest for taxi drivers and chauffeurs at 31.54 per 100,000, followed by police at 6.46 per 100,000. The homicide rate at USPS ranked low at only 0.26 per 100,000.
The commission survey found postal employees to be less angry, aggressive, depressed, hostile, and stressed than those in the national workforce and better at coping. At the same time, postal employees’ attitudes about work, management, and co-workers are more negative than those of employ- ees in the national workforce. Postal workers are:
- Nearly six times likelier than those in the national workforce to believe they are more likely than the average worker to be victims of violence by co-workers (17% vs. 3%). In reality, the likelihood is nearly identical (4% vs. 3%).
- Less confident in management’s fairness and honesty (37% vs. 60%).
- Less likely to agree their employer takes action to protect them (52% vs. 70%).
The commission found that the USPS has comprehensive violence prevention programs but execution can be improved, and the backlog of grievances and dual compensation system causes friction within the organization. The commission made a number of recommendations for USPS management, unions, and management associations including these:
• Continue and step up violence prevention programs already in place and address underlying sources of friction. Screen job applicants more carefully for potential violence. Clarify policy of zero tolerance for violence and improve employee understanding of the policy.
• Continue violence awareness training for employees, with unions having a greater role. Assure that warning signals are heeded by improving operation of local teams established to assess threats of violence and respond to violent crises. Improve security by establishing a communications system for carriers, especially in high-crime and remote areas.
• Assure employees of the confidentiality of the employee assistance program and encourage joint local management/union oversight of the program. Limit potential for violence during and after employee terminations by training managers and union officials how to handle terminations. Increase training to improve interpersonal skills of managers and strengthen incentives to focus managers’ attention on the work environment. Overhaul the dispute resolution processes. Agree on system of financial performance incentives for craft employees.
"We hope that other employers and labor leaders across America will find these analyses and recommendations useful, and we encourage them to make a searching examination of the unacceptable level of violence in the American workplace," concluded the commission.
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