News Notes: Employer Cited For Ineffective Workplace Violence Program

Xerox Corp. has been cited by the Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division for not developing an effective workplace violence prevention program that might have averted a mass shooting by a copy machine repairman that left seven co-workers dead. The agency charged that Xerox failed to train managers to recognize and reduce potential hazards as required by its safety policies. Before the shooting in Nov. 1999, repairman Bryan Uyesugi had shown signs of violent tendencies by kicking in an elevator door and making threats against co-workers. Although the state OSHA imposed no fines in connection with the citation, Xerox strongly disagreed with the findings and defended its workplace violence and security policies.