Workplace violence takes toll on workers

At BulletBlocker, our original concept of bullet proof backpacks was meant to help prevent unnecessary deaths of school children at the hands of random gunmen in their schools. As former law enforcement officers we knew, first hand, that the stats were being skewed by school boards and law enforcement reporting organization across the country to down play the fear that the real information would create about our schools, colleges and universities. In the development and subsequent sales of our product we have become even more aware, by the shear volume of customers that buy our products to protect themselves in places other than schools, that school violence is only the tip of the iceberg. Millions of regular people are in potentially violent situations every day. The streets of America are violent, but the workplace of America is a high risk place as well. This is especially true as we watch the economy put even more stress on all of us. It's even easy to say "the economy" but we all hear and see what is happening: The average person has accumulated too much debt. That brings on a whole set of undermining psychological issues like depression, worthlessness, feeling stupid, frustrated, hopelessness and often a sense of being victimized. Now add in some anger towards the government for not bailing out the people but rather bailing out the banks so that they stay solvent long enough to put the squeeze on the borrowers. Then add in some job losses or cut-backs while the ceos have salaries that average about 100 times more than the average employee, and you have all the ingredients you need for people to act out. Even if only 1% of 1% of the population is borderline, that means hundreds of thousands of people are at work at least wanting to act out. This type of analysis led us to the idea that we need to make products for more than just school safety. We need to offer protection for everyone. What was once only available to law enforcement officers needs to be made available to everyone, both in design and price.

Think about this: The sheriff's dept. where I worked for over 11 years had 500 deputies/officers +/-. In the 200+ years of it's existence no officer had been shot in the line of duty. Yet every officer is issued a bullet proof vest (body armor). That same statistic stands true around the nation. Towns, counties, states and the feds all spend millions of dollars to protect their officers based on the fairly slim chance that someone will get shot. Where do those millions of dollars come from? You and I pay for it every year in income taxes and property taxes. Do I think it is wrong? No.

It's not practical to think that we should all be walking around wearing concealed bullet proof vests. Even if we bought them we probably wouldn't wear them because they are generally not comfortable, hot and make us look too fat. So at BulletBlocker we decided to take our child safety concept one step further: We expanded our development to bullet proof briefcases, bullet proof panels (bullet proof inserts that you can put in your own bag, pack, case, etc.), bullet proof carry on luggage, and emergency bullet proof vests that lie flat at approx. 1/2 inch thick and can be kept in your briefcase, pack or bag just like a thicker version of our panels. Our idea was to make a practical, lightweight product that could offer protection from 99% of the bullets that are used in random violence situations; handguns. At the same time we realized that some people will actually want the full protection offered by traditional law enforcement body armor. So we offer 2 lines of full concealment bullet proof vests. The difference with our vests is that we do not price to the government budget. We price for the public. It means a smaller profit margin but it also exposes our primary product line of practical, lightweight dual purpose bullet proof consumer products. The results so far have been outstanding. Our products aren't cheap, but starting at $35 for bullet proof notepads and ranging up into our bullet proof vest lines that start at $275 for sale at our discount price, we offer anti-ballistic products at a fraction of the cost per square inch that can be found anywhere else.

Furthermore, we only use new materials. Old bullet proof vests / body armor can be found on eBay for under $100. The problem is that all of the manufacturers rate vests as having a lifespan of about 5 years. Moisture (sweat) and sunlight both act to break down the effectiveness of the material. Personally I might buy an ebay vest to take to the gun range to shoot for experimental purposes to understand how the stuff works but I would never put my life on the line with a used bullet proof vest or anything made from anti-ballistic materials that aren't new.

If you want protection that you can take with you, check out our line of bullet proof products at BulletBlocker.com.

This is a great story about workplace violence from "The News-Sentinal":

Violence at work takes worker toll
Violent crime has occurred at 5.3% of private U.S. companies, survey says.

Bartender Paula Richardson likes her job and can't afford to retire, so quitting wasn't an option when she was shot by a man during an attempted robbery at the Office Tavern on Nov. 20.

“I can't let that little creep run me away from my job,” said Richardson, who returned Jan. 5. “I'm 60 years old. I have to work for my wages.”

While work can take a crime victim's mind off being victimized, it's a lot tougher when the victim's place of work is where the crime was committed. A 2005 survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found workplace violence had occurred at 5.3 percent of the 7.1 million private U.S. businesses in the prior 12 months.

The majority of the violence in larger establishments involved co-workers, customers or domestic disputes; but in small businesses such as the Office Tavern, while incidents were rare, they were just as likely to involve criminals.

While nearly a third of the businesses where incidents occurred reported they had a negative impact on workers, the majority of businesses did not change their workplace violence-prevention procedures; 9 percent had no policy or procedures.

Workplace violence led to increased absenteeism, decreased productivity and more job turnover, but the biggest increase was often in fear. Richardson, who fought the robber before being shot - “I figured he was going to shoot me anyway” - said she's vigilant since the shooting. The shooter has not been arrested, and Richardson asked that The News-Sentinel not photograph her due to safety concerns.

“I'm more cautious of my surroundings when I'm here” said Richardson, a bartender for about 39 years. “I just look at things different now than the way I did.”

“That'll be something she'll have to deal with every day,” said Lynnice Hamilton, head of the Fort Wayne Police Department's victim assistance unit. “‘Is my next customer going to rob me? Am I in jeopardy?' Those are feelings and real issues she has to deal with.”

Hamilton said most people expect to be safe at work. “Trying to regain the sense of safety and security (is) a big issue,” she said. She said workplace victims often rely on counseling, friends, family, religion or a combination to cope. Some leave their jobs. Emotional recovery varies depending on the victim.

The bureau found that more than 70 percent of businesses don't have a formal program or policy addressing workplace violence. Hamilton said employers without plans need to create them, and some that have them need to improve them.

“We are surprised by workplace violence, but we really shouldn't be,” Hamilton said. “… That's why we all have to be concerned about it. It affects us all.”
By Evan Goodenow
of The News-Sentinel

Any questions? Contact us at BulletBlocker.com or make a comment here.

Cool article from school safety news

BulletBlocker doesn't just produce bullet proof vests and backpacks for school safety. We also make specific school safety products. We also promote open dialogue about school safety issues. We want to share this story with you:

Lately it seems there has been a lot of interest in schools and colleges instructing teachers to fight back when confronted with an armed attacker. Certainly the thought of having teachers (and even students) being told to throw books and fight back against a gunman is incredible and counter-intuitive. Luckily no one ever told by Ryan Crowley, Jake Ryker, Josh Ryker, Douglas Ure, Davis Ure, Ada Walberger, Joshua Pearson and Travis Weaver not to fight back against a school shooter. In 1998, these seven students prevented an attacker from killing more of their schoolmates.

On May 20, 1998, 15year-old Kipland (Kip) Phillip Kinkel was expelled from school for possessing a loaded firearm. His father, Bill Kinkel, a 59 year-old Spanish teacher picked him up from the police station, where they stopped at a Burger King on the drive home.

Follow up:

This was not Kip’s first mishap and his obsession with guns was well known to his parents. In fact, his Dad even purchased him numerous weapons for Kip despite disturbing tendencies such as building bombs, torturing neighborhood cats, throwing rocks of freeway bridges and treatment for mental disorders that included hallucinating and hearing voices.
Bill Kinkel’s inability to grasp just how dangerous Kip was concluded around 6pm that day when Kip shot him in the back of the head while his Dad was seated at the Kitchen table. A little later that evening, Kip waited in the garage for his mother Faith’s return. After helping her unload groceries from the car, he shot her twice in the back of the head. Upon realizing she was still alive, he shot her three more times in the face and once more in the heart.

That night Kip prepared himself for one final attack; arming himself with three guns, two knives and enough ammunition to kill over 1,000 people. To ensure this was indeed his last stand, Kip taped one .22 and one 9mm caliber to his chest. This last reserve of bullets was to guarantee he would be able to kill himself regardless which weapon was in his when the time came.

Kip drove his mother’s Ford Explorer to Thurston High School, where he arrived in time to reach the cafeteria by 7:55 am; the time it was the most crowded. On his approach to the cafeteria, Kip warned a friend not go to into the school. Seconds later, just outside the cafeteria, Kip shot Ben Walker in the back of the head.
Less than 20 yards away, Kip zeroed in on his next victim; shooting Ryan Atterberry in the side of the face. Despite, being shot in the face at point blank range, Ryan would survive. Moments later Kip was inside the cafeteria that was packed with over 250 students. Using a semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle, Kip fired nearly 50 rounds; wounding 25 people. After the initial spray of gunfire, Kip started selecting his targets, killing Mikael Nickolauson.

Shortly after killing Mikael, Kip’s realized his magazine was empty when he attempted to shoot another student. This brief window of opportunity was exploited by Ryan Crowley, Jake Ryker, Josh Ryker, Douglas Ure, Davis Ure, Ada Walberger, Joshua Pearson and Travis Weaver. The seven students, two of whom were shot and injured in the process, overpowered Kinkel and stopped the killing.

Kip Kinkel murdered his parents, two students and wounded 25 others. He was sentenced to 111 years in prison without possibility parole. The very same day as Kips’ attack a plot by three six graders to carry out an ambush style attack was uncovered in St, Charles, MO.

Fighting back against an attacker should be taught as a last resort as part of a larger security strategy that includes threat assessment and physical security. All security procedures should be developed in conjunction with local law enforcement and trained experts.

From Schoolsafetynews.com
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