Ellen Ridley-Hooper, Family Crisis ServicesJohn Rioux, Maine Department of LaborKim C. Lim, Ph.D., Maine Department of Labor

Impact of Domestic Violence on OSH:

A Pilot Study of Offenders in Maine Batterer Intervention Programs

Type 1Criminal Intent

MaineWorkplace Violence

Surveillance Initiative( Part of Maine’s Occupational Injury

Surveillance Project, funded by NIOSH)

Type 2Customer/C lient

Type 3Worker/Worker

Type 4Personal

Relationship

Partners Maine Department of Labor Family Crisis Services Opportunity for Change A Different Choice Abuser Education Program Menswork/Family Violence Project Violence Intervention Partnership

Objectives Identify ways in which offenders are

using the workplace to further victimize intimate partners

Identify/quantify performance, productivity, lost work time, work delays, and workplace accidents

Examine current employer responses to offenders in the workplace

Objectives (cont.)

Determine frequency of workplace violence policies in effect in sample

Examine offenders’ views on useful measure employers can implement to create safety and accountability

Determine frequency and impact of offenders contacting victim at her workplace

Process

Voluntary participation from men in four BIPs (Cumberland and Kennebec Counties)

45 trained volunteer interviewers Informed Consent Confidentiality 80-question, 30 minute interview

Employment Status of Participating Offenders

Total interviewed – 152 Worked for employer – 124 Self- Employed – 22 Unemployed – 5 Retired - 1

Employment Types Construction, laborer Advertising Commercial fishing Education Government Public utility Printing press Restaurant/ food service Sales, retail and other

Impact of Domestic Violence on

Occupational Safety & Health

Figure 1: Self-reported effects of domestic abuse on work performance, concentration, and accidents/near-miss accidents

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A B C

Yes

NoFrequency

A: Job performance affected by DV (41%) B: Lacked Concentration (48%) C: Accidents or Near Misses (19%)

Examples: Self-reported work accidents caused by pre-occupation with relationship

Distracted, burned a fellow worker who missed work as a result

Cut himself a few times with a knife Fell off scaffolding because he was thinking

about incident that led to enrollment in BIP, couldn’t concentrate

Injured himself with chainsaw, neglects duties at times

Injured hand by not using proper tool, 12 stitches

Examples: Self-reported work accidents caused by pre-occupation with relationship

Hit a truck while thinking of wife and son While driving forklift, was on cell phone

with victim, hit and knocked over stacks of heavy materials

On cell phone with victim, smashed into vehicle in front of him

Went to work drunk, cut finger Chainsaw cut through safety chaps Forgot key safety step when working with

explosive occupational materials, suffered burns

Examples: Self-Reported Near Misses

Almost crashed company’s vehicle

Almost fell off ladder

Almost fell off roof 40 feet above ground, saved by safety harness

Broke power equipment while distracted

Forgot to tie fellow roofer worker off, could have fallen several stories

Examples: Self-Reported Near Misses Angrily handling sharp and dangerous

occupational tools, could have injured fellow worker who said “You should get your head together.”

Using a torch, not paying attention, almost harmed self

Several near collisions due to lack of attention while driving

Figure 2: Additional self-reported OSH issues

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A B C

Frequency

A: Sexual harassment (4%) B: Aggressive behavior (12%)

C: Substance abuse (13%)

Figure 3: Brought Weapons To Work

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0123456789

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A B C

Frequency

A: Rifle/shotgun B: Handgun C: Knife

Impact of Domestic Abuse on Productivity and Misuse of Company

Resources

Figure 5: Self-reported impact of DV on productivity and absences

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73 72 64

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A B C D

Yes

NoFrequency

A: DV affected job performance (41%) B: Late for work (41%)

C: DV affected concentration (48%) D: Took unpaid leave (64%)

Figure 6: Self-reported impact of DV on productivity and absences

Frequency

A: Left early/check up (11%) B: Caused work delay (24%)

C: Altered attendance record (4%) D: Used paid leave (26%)

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A B C D

YesNo

Examples: Self-reported impact of DV on concentration

Always thinking of partner, hard to focus on work Angry, thrown off track, would last through end of shift

if he couldn’t reach her Would be late after an argument, too distracted and

upset to work effectively Hard to meet sales quota, preoccupied Jumpy and irritated Ended up with shortage in cash drawer Made 187 calls in one month to victim from office,

warned by employer Could produce 8-10 paint jobs a day, when distracted

would do two fewer

Examples: Self-reported impact of DV on concentration

Hard to concentrate on highly risky job Participant would visualize wife in bed with

someone else and get worked up to the point he could not visit customers

“You’d call and she’d hang up on you, yeah, it would be hard to concentrate.”

Wondering where she was, especially if he called her at work and she wasn’t there

Ran hundreds of thousands of ad copy for a major customer, missing a page

Figure 7: Use of company resources to contact partner during work time

Frequency

A: Company phone (77%) B: Company Cell (23%)

C: Company car (25%) D: Stopped at house on clock (26%)

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A B C D

YesNo

Figure 8: Use of company resources for manipulative or abusive purposes

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A B C D

Yes

NoFrequency

A: Employed offenders B: Employed who contacted from workplace (85%)

C: Contacted to express remorse/anger, check up on her, pressure her (67%)

D: Contacted to threaten (11%)

Employer Responses to Domestic Violence Offenders

Figure 9: Employer Responsesto Employee Arrested for DV

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68 71

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A B C D

YesNo

Frequency

A: DV Arrest while employed (75%) B: Supervisor Aware (75%)

C: Referral to help source (17%) D: Provide WPV policy (12%)

Figure 10: Employer Responses to Employee Arrested for DV

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E F G

YesNo

Frequency

E: Supervisor issued warning (15%) F: Supervisor provided bail (18%)

G: Reminded that DV is a crime (16%)

Figure 11: Employer Responses to Employee Served with Protection Orders

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A B C D

Yes

No

A: Protection order served B: Supervisor aware (59%)

C: Referral to help source (19%) D: Provide WPV policy (14%)

Frequency

Figure 12: Employer Responses to Employee Served with Protection Orders

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E F G

Not SureYesNo

E: Supervisor issued warning (15%)

F: Reminded that DV is a crime (17%)

G: Business has WPV policy in effect (33%)

Frequency

Figure 13: Effects of domestic abuse on lost work time and termination

Frequency

A: Number employed B: Lost work time due to arrest (15,221.5 total hours for 70 men)

C: Same employer as when entering BIP (49%) D: Lost job due to domestic abuse (26%)

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A B C D

YesNo

Figure 14: Offenders’ opinions of workplace responses to domestic abuse

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A B C D E

YesNo

A: New hire orientation (65%) B: Posters and brochures (68%)

C: Sensitive supervisor (87%) D: Required domestic abuse class (73%)

E: Workplace discipline effective (60%)

Impact on Employed Partner’s Workplace

Figure 15: Self-reported impact on partner’s workplace

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A B C D E

YesNo

A: Partner Employed working B: No contact order in place (69%)

C: Harassment order in place (4%) D: Prevented partner from

working (13%) E: Made her look bad to employer (7%)

Frequency

Figure 16: Self-reported impact on Partner’s Workplace

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A B c D E

YesNo

A: Caused difficulty at workplace (25%) B: Caused her to be disciplined (12%)

C: Caused her to be fired (2%) D: Contacted at workplace in violation of no-

contact order (21%) E: Easy access to partner’s workplace (75%)

Frequency

Examples: Self-reported tactics against partner at work

Purposely got her fired because he did not like job

Took car so she couldn’t get to work Made a scene at her workplace Assaulted her in parking lot Worked in supervisory position over her Made her late by arguing Boss threatened her with job loss if she

didn’t take care of problem

Conclusions

Domestic abuse offenders in this study impacted employers through workplace accidents and near misses, concentration difficulties, delayed projects, productivity, use of company resources, lost work time, and by harassing victims at their worksites

Employers from this sample showed a marginal response to domestic abuse as reported by offenders

Offenders believe employers have a role to play in responding to domestic abuse

Study Strengths Study design: Descriptive Sample size One-on-one interviews Informed consent Quantitative and qualitative data

gathered Expert panel review of survey questions

and protocols

Study Limitations Biases may be introduced by self-selection of

offenders within the participating programs Participating counties operate using two

different models for batterer intervention projects

Some survey questions had flaws discovered after on-set of interviews

Potential for inconsistencies in interview approach because of reliance of volunteer interviewers

Potential for underreporting of offenses by participant

Suggested Strategies

for Implementation & Evaluation

Partner with your local domestic abuse project and statewide domestic abuse coalition when implementing a workplace plan

Suggested Strategies - OSH Issues

A comprehensive workplace violence policy should include domestic violence. Suggested strategies may include:

Recognize DV as a safety issue in policy and practice

Create a workplace culture that encourages offenders to seek help

Include domestic abuse in workplace safety training, routinely offer dv resources during safety checklists, require adherence to dv policy and protocols as part of safety audit

Expand scope of workplace accident investigations to include questions about concentration problems

Use accidents and near-misses as opportunities for communication and referrals to local resources

Suggested Strategies - Productivity & Use of Company Resources

Create policies that prohibit the use of company resources to harass, threaten, stalk, or intimidate anyone, including a family member

New employee orientation and annual policy review Hold employees accountable for misuse of resources Be alert to and investigate productivity issues, errors, and lost work time –

offer resources when appropriate

Support from DOC, MDOL and Program Managers, Mass and North Carolina

Suggested Strategies – Supervisor Awareness

Commit to the training of managers and supervisors to recognize and appropriately respond to WPV, including domestic abuse

Create a workplace culture that encourages workers to seek help: outline behavior expectations, provide posters/ brochures, hold offenders accountable when policies are violated

Suggested Strategies – Impact on Victims

Create a helpful workplace culture that encourages employees to come forward for resources and workplace safety planning

Utilize protection from harassment orders as a tool to keep abusers away from workplace; assist victim when PFAs are violated

Create policies to protect the jobs of employees living with abuse

Implement security measures to maximize safety of abused employees and co-workers

1) Continue working to ensure protection for DV victims in workplace, including job security and safety planning assistance

2) Encourage employers to work with MDOL & MCEDV to implement and evaluate WPV strategies as recommended by OSHA, NIOSH and other States

3) Further investigate the OSH impact of DV offenders through a statewide study of all batterer intervention projects

4) Conduct a study of the impact of DV & OSH from the perspective of those who are being victimized

What’s Next in Maine

Resources Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence (207) 941-1194 Maine Employers Against Domestic

Violence (207) 941-1194 Ellen Ridley-Hooper, Family Crisis Services

(207) 767-4952 ext. 105 Kim C. Lim, Ph.D. Maine Department of

Labor (207) 624-6443 OSHA & NIOSH