Workplace Violence: Where Would I Hide?

By Susan Schoenfeld, JD, Senior Legal Editor

I had only been working for the federal government for about 6 months in 1991 when former postal worker, Thomas McIlvane, walked into the U.S. Post Office in Royal Oak, Michigan, and shot and killed four supervisors. He also wounded five of his former coworkers before killing himself.

I was not in Michigan that day, but I wondered—What would I do if a shooter walked into my office building? Where would I hide? My sparse office had a door that did not lock, a small desk, a file cabinet, and a chair—none of which would provide protection against a gunman.

Now, fast forward to 2016, and we find ourselves in the midst of a devastating trend of workplace violence. The very real threat of violence in the workplace leads me to think, how many employees look at their surroundings today and still wonder—What would I do? Where would I hide?

Active Shooter in the Workplace

What do experts say you should do if there is an active shooter in the workplace? Hiding is not the first. According to most experts, the following three things (in preferred order) are what you should do in response to an active shooter:

1. Evacuate. If there is an accessible escape path, attempt to evacuate.
2. Hide. If you cannot evacuate, hide where the shooter is not likely to find you—ideally, a place that can be locked and that has no window in the door.
3. Take action. As a last resort, and only when your life is in imminent danger, attempt to disrupt and/or incapacitate the active shooter.

Employers’ Obligations

As employers, we have a duty to protect employees from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees. In the case of the 1991 post office shooting in Michigan, the postmaster general ordered a review of the personnel records of the Postal Service’s 750,000 workers, as well as of former employees, to identify anyone who displayed aggressive or violent behavior.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued guidelines on combating workplace violence, which parallel its voluntary safety program guidelines in that they emphasize the importance of management commitment, employee involvement, worksite analysis, hazard prevention and control, and employee education and training. By way of example, OSHA’s violence prevention guidelines for healthcare and social service workers recommend:

• Top management involvement in implementing a violence prevention program;
• A written violence prevention program for larger organizations;
• A threat assessment team to evaluate the employer’s vulnerability to violence;
• Appropriate engineering controls—for example, enclosing stations and using metal detectors;
• Appropriate administrative work practices—for example, contingency plans to deal with violent customers or coworkers; and
• Staff training on security awareness and how to protect themselves when confronted with threats or violence.

(See Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Healthcare and Social Service Workers, here).