Workplace Violence Prevention Guide for Retailers

Workplace Violence Prevention Guide for Retailers

When an incident of workplace violence occurs, the effects are pervasive and devastating. For workers, it can result in physical harm like grievous injury or death, or psychological damage that can last anywhere from several years to the rest of their lives.

Organizations, on the other hand, not only bear a duty of care for their workers, but must also potentially contend with issues of trauma, loss of morale, loss of productivity, and property damage, as well as increased costs for security, personnel, workers’ compensation, and so on. They must also deal with media reports about the incident, and the public’s response to those reports.

But perhaps the most unfortunate and frustrating fact about workplace violence is that there’s no way to completely stop it from happening. The root causes of workplace violence are the same as those of any incident of violence. Despite everything we know about human behavior, something unforeseeable has caused a person to either threaten violence or carry it out; there is simply no guaranteed cure or surefire method of prevention.

While workplace violence does occur, organizations like yours still have the power and responsibility to mitigate the risk of such incidents by learning more about the scope of the problem, the risk landscape, and your compliance obligations, 

as well as taking steps to address them. This way, you can bolster the health and safety of your employees, reduce the likelihood of incidents at your work sites, and avoid penalties by ensuring that you follow all relevant workplace safety regulations.

A major factor of your company’s risk landscape is the industry in which you work — and available data suggests that work sites in the retail sector tend to be more at risk for incidents of workplace violence than most. This means that for retailers like you, workplace violence is a serious and predictable hazard, and as a result, you have a unique responsibility to be even more aware of and prepared to contend with this issue than companies in other industries.

Before we recommend actions your company can take to reduce the risk of workplace violence at your work sites, some context is needed. We’ll cover what constitutes workplace violence, the magnitude of the issue and industry-specific risk factors for retailers, and your legal responsibilities as an employer.

What is workplace violence?

Workplace violence is any act or threat of violence that takes place at a work site, including physical abuse, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening behavior. Anyone at a work site has the potential to commit or become victimized by an act of workplace violence — not just employees or managers, but also vendors, partners, customers, or visitors.

Every incident of workplace violence can have life-altering or fatal consequences. Even if a person is not directly involved in an act of workplace violence, it can have deep and lasting effects on anyone at that work site, their families, and the larger community.

How prevalent is workplace violence for retailers?

But how widespread is the issue of workplace violence across all industries?

According to a joint US study released in 2022 by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 1.3 million people on average per year from 2015 to 2019 were the victims of nonfatal incidents of workplace violence. BLS also reported in a separate 2022 study that in 2020, 37,060 nonfatal workplace injuries were the result of “intentional injury by another person.”

Unfortunately, the effects of workplace violence don’t stop with simple victimization or injury. This is true whether or not the incident is reported — which, in many cases, doesn’t happen.

In its 2023 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), BLS reported that even though there were 5,283 fatal workplace injuries that year, 740 of them were the result of violent acts. The CFOI also found that homicides represented 61.9% of all violent acts at the workplace. And according to the 2022 joint US study referenced above, 18,000 people were killed between 1992 and 2019 while actively working, on duty, or by an act of work-related violence.

The magnitude of this issue is clearly staggering, even jarring. But how do retailers compare to employers in other industries in terms of risk?

According to the National Safety Council (NSC) Injury Facts^® website — which draws on data gathered by BLS — 94 of out 445 fatal work-related injuries caused by assaults in 2023 took place in a retail trade setting, placing retail as the second-highest industry at 21.1%. BLS also reported that in 2020, there were 92 workplace homicides in the sales and related category, with nearly as many incidents that year as the next three industries added together.

In 2021-2022, there were a total of 2,500 nonfatal work-related injuries in a retail trade setting caused by assaults and resulting in Days Away From Work (DAFW), up from only 1,000 incidents in 2020. This placed retail third on the list for that year, only slightly behind the education sector and well behind the healthcare sector, far and away the riskiest industry.

In the 2023 CFOI, BLS reported that nearly 30% of fatalities in the retail trade industry sector were homicides. Additionally, the retail trade industry had the third-highest number of fatalities for women, led only by the private healthcare and social assistance industries respectively.

Ultimately, the data suggests that while retail isn’t the highest-risk industry for workplace violence across all metrics, it’s certainly one of the deadliest when compared to other sectors.

Who’s at risk of workplace violence in the retail sector?

While every person present at a retail work site has the capacity to be directly involved or indirectly affected by an incident of workplace violence, certain types of employees — or types of retail businesses — have a higher risk than others. Knowing this helps you to structure more effective policies and prevention plans specific to the composition of your retail sites.

A number of factors can influence the level of risk for workplace violence an employee experiences as a result of their profession. According to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the risk of workplace violence has a propensity to increase at jobs where workers:

• exchange money with the public
• work with people who can sometimes be volatile or unstable
• work alone or at an isolated work site
• work at a location where alcohol is served
• work at or near locations that are poorly lit, such as parking areas
• work late at night
• work in areas with higher crime rates

The types of retail businesses most accurately described by these statements are convenience stores, liquor stores, and gas stations. It’s clear that OSHA agrees, as they called out these three business types in the introduction to their 2009 report entitled “Recommendations for Workplace Violence Prevention Programs in Late-Night Retail Establishments.” Plus, the fact that OSHA published such a report at all speaks to  its understanding of these businesses’ elevated level of risk.

Another type of retail business increasingly affected by workplace violence is so-called “dollar stores.” As the number of US locations for this type of store has risen consistently throughout the last several years — from 34,215 in 2021 to 39,003 in 2025, according to Statista — there has been a concurrent rise in incidents of workplace violence at these sites.

Compliance risk for employers

To remain legally compliant, employers must abide by any and all laws that dictate safety standards for work sites to keep their employees safe. One of the most well-known regulations to set such standards is the US Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1970, a legislative response to the rising public outcry for greater environmental safety standards to protect both the public and employees who were tasked with handling hazardous chemicals for work.

Within the OSH Act is a clause colloquially known as the General Duty Clause, which set a basic standard for a duty of care for all employers to meet for their employees, regardless of industry. The General Duty Clause specifies that “each employer… shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees…”

Other countries, such as the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, have passed laws containing language similar to the General Duty Clause, outlining their own recognition of a duty of care for employers to meet on behalf of their employees. For example, the General Duty Clause for the UK resides within Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act, passed in 1974.

For example, given its prevalence in the healthcare industry, workplace violence is a recognized hazard for all healthcare work sites, as interpreted by the Occupational Safety and Review Committee (OSHRC) as recently as 2019. To that effect, healthcare industry employers must comply with their obligations under the General Duty Clause to provide employees with a safe working environment and deliver reasonable protections where applicable.

Additional state-level regulations have been passed since 1970 that can affect whether your company remains compliant. For example, California passed Senate Bill 553 (SB 553) in 2023, which amended the state’s labor code such that every employer in California must establish and maintain an effective injury prevention program, and that a workplace violence prevention plan is an essential element of such a program.

In New York, State Assembly Bill A8947C — also known as the Retail Worker Safety Act — established that all retail industry employers must adopt a workplace violence prevention policy, including training for employees, lists of emergency exits and emergency meeting locations, and panic buttons that contact local public safety officers or emergency services.

Like any regulation, organizations bear the burden to become familiar with all applicable laws surrounding workplace violence prevention and take steps to ensure compliance. This way, your organization not only avoids potential liabilities tied to noncompliance, but more importantly, an act of workplace violence is less likely to occur at one of your work sites.

Steps to mitigate and respond to workplace violence

While there is no cure for workplace violence, there are concrete steps that retailers can take to both ensure they’re meeting their general duty of care obligation and working to mitigate the risk of an incident of workplace violence at their retail work sites:

Establish anti-violence, anti-harassment, and anti-bullying policies

Policies should be zero-tolerance and clearly define unacceptable behaviors for work sites. This shows employees your organization’s commitment to creating and maintaining a culture of respect and building an environment that minimizes negative feelings like isolation, resentment, and hostility.

Communicate policies to all employees, managers, and supervisors

Every employee must be made aware of workplace violence prevention policies and held to the same standard throughout your organization. Include policies in any employee handbook or other documentation designed to outline both employee and employer obligations and expectations.

Hold regular employee trainings

Trainings should include the content of your policies, signs of potential violent behavior, workplace violence de-escalation techniques, and how to react should an incident occur. Establish relations with local police, social services, and mental health providers, and involve them in trainings where applicable to help your workforce develop a stronger relationship with them.

Outline and evangelize reporting procedures

Make the reporting process clear and accessible to all employees, with a defined chain of command. Make sure every report is looked into, and that feedback is provided to the submitter in a timely fashion, so they are aware of both the investigation and the outcome. Above all, take every report seriously.

Encourage feedback from employees on all parts of your program

Reach out to your employees for opinions and suggestions about your workplace violence prevention policies, including possible risks and suggested preventative measures. Incorporate employee suggestions where possible to show your program is an ongoing dialogue.

Improve physical security at all work sites

Deliver security improvements at physical work sites where possible, including additional security personnel, lighting, surveillance or monitoring, security enhancements for entry points (e.g. keycard access), or those that address any other gaps. Consider revising staffing policies to help keep employees safe during work hours or amending hours of operation to less dangerous times of day.

Perform regular risk assessment at all work sites

No prevention plan is foolproof, and work site environments change over time. Regular risk assessments will help your organization to identify any new security gaps and make appropriate adjustments before they leave an opening for an incident to occur. Keep your employees involved in the review process to gain key insights that only on-the-ground workers can supply.

Comply with all workplace violence prevention regulations

Make sure that you meet all standards for duty of care and mandatory workplace violence prevention programs as outlined in federal, state, or local laws, paying special attention to those that apply to retailers. Applicable regulations may differ by the size or location of your company, but the burden of compliance is yours to meet.

The role of security management software in preventing and responding to incidents of workplace violence in retail

No matter how uncertain the world may seem at times, your retail workers deserve to feel safe and protected at their places of employment, and organizations like yours must operate retail work sites in a manner that delivers on that obligation. As such, it is incumbent on your company to take advantage of up-to-date digital tools that can help you fulfill your security obligations and more effectively prevent incidents of workplace violence at work sites.

One such digital tool that can help your company to efficiently administer your workplace violence prevention protocol is security management software. Security management software helps your organization gain valuable threat intelligence, enhance your situational awareness, and streamline incident reporting to strengthen your overall resiliency. Should an incident occur, security management software helps you restore normal operations quickly.

When evaluating security management software, look for a tool that enables your team to:

• Ensure security teams stay informed on the status of your operations with more efficient data gathering through public forms accessed via QR codes, SMS, or mobile app
• Consolidate info across multiple sources using customizable dashboards with elements like scrolling banners, live maps, and news feeds, and streams with up-to-the-minute weather, social media, traffic, and natural disaster data
• Stay on top of potential threats and risks to people, assets, work sites, and reputation with real-time, AI-driven threat intelligence that streamlines escalation and supports effective incident response
• Keep interested parties informed and support better decision-making with easily distributable notices to ensure teams have the latest intelligence about persons, organizations, assets, or other entities of interest
• Manage incident response efficiently with automated notifications via customizable workflows, assigned response actions to expedite recovery, and shareable updates
• Prevent reoccurrence and enhance preparation with thoroughly conducted incident investigations, including easy capture of case notes and dossiers for persons of interest
• Gain greater visibility of your business continuity posture and uncover valuable insights with flexible dashboards and analytics capabilities, including custom reporting options

No retail worker employed at your company should be unreasonably exposed to the risk of workplace violence, especially considering the gravity of its effects. 

Fortunately, security management software like Noggin makes it easier than ever to develop and maintain a thorough prevention program that can help your individual retail work sites, your larger organization, and most importantly, your employees at all retail locations to safely avoid such grievous harm.

To see for yourself, request a demo of Noggin today. You’ll be glad you did.