{"id":7717,"date":"2023-08-22T16:54:51","date_gmt":"2023-08-22T20:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/?p=7717"},"modified":"2023-08-22T21:41:09","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T01:41:09","slug":"workplace-violence-protections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2023\/08\/22\/workplace-violence-protections\/","title":{"rendered":"Workplace Violence: Protecting Retail Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Late on the night of June 2, 23-year-old Tava Woodard was killed in a robbery<\/a> at the \u00a0Roadrunner convenience store at a gas station in Johnson City, Tennessee.<\/p>\n

Anyone reading the Weekly Toll<\/a> can’t help but notice that Woodard’s killing was not an exception. Every week, there are at least half a dozen workers who are shot and killed (or sometimes beaten to death) in convenience stores and gas stations — usually working alone at night. Add to that a delivery driver, taxi driver or ride-sharing services or two who get killed every week or so. 21% of all workplace homicides occur in the sales and related occupations. 50 gig workers murdered or killed on the job since 2017, according to a recent report<\/a>\u00a0from Gig Workers Rising.<\/p>\n

And because the Weekly Toll<\/em> is only able to pick up those cases that appear in the media, non-fatal assaults and injuries remain mostly invisible. \u00a0The Department of Justice reports that only 46% of nonfatal workplace violence against workers in retail sales occupations was reported to police in 2019.<\/p>\n

What can be done to protect these workers?<\/p>\n

Is Workplace Violence in Retail Establishments Covered by OSHA?<\/h2>\n

Unfortunately, most convenience story murders are simply turned over to the police as a criminal matter and OSHA rarely takes any action to cite employers. There’s a general assumption that, hey, it’s just bad guys. It’s a police matter.\u00a0 OSHA has no workplace violence standard, leaving the agency’s General Duty Clause -as the agency’s only enforcement tool.<\/p>\n

The General Duty Clause requires there to be a “recognized hazard” and a “feasible means of abatement,” so if employers can reasonably claim they had no idea their store was at risk of robbery, or that there’s nothing the employer can do to prevent robberies, then OSHA’s hands are tied.<\/p>\n

But retail establishments should not be getting off that easy. Violence in retail establishments is a recognized hazard –especially late night retail — and the above-there are well-recognized risk factors — like contact with the public, access to cash and working alone, working late nights, as well as a history of crime in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

And there are many feasible actions that employers can take “abate”\u00a0 —\u00a0 reduce or prevent these attacks.<\/p>\n

As far back as the late 1990’s OSHA issued Recommendations for Workplace Violence Prevention Programs in Late-Night Retail Establishments<\/a>.\u00a0 The guidelines were taken from industry standards and include recommendations such as:<\/p>\n