Ex-employee kills seven people at Chicago warehouse

The threat that workplace violence constitutes to US businesses was brought home again yesterday when an ex-employee, Salvador Tapia, returned to his former company, Windy City Core Supply, and shot dead six members of staff. According to CNN, Tapia was then shot and killed in the last of three separate gun-battles with police.

Workplace violence continues to be the leading concern for American businesses, according to Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations' tenth annual survey of Fortune 1000 corporate security professionals.

The study, ‘Top security threats and management issues facing corporate America,’ ranked the top ten security concerns as:
1. Workplace violence
2. Business interruption/continuity planning
3. Internet/intranet security
4. Terrorism (global and domestic)
5. Employee selection/screening concerns
6. Fraud/white-collar crime
7. General theft by employees
8. Unethical business conduct
9. Drugs/alcohol in the workplace
10. Identity theft

Workplace Violence has held first place for the last five years and has ranked first or near the top of the list in each of Pinkerton's previous surveys. The total costs associated with workplace violence are estimated at $36 billion annually and it impacts over two million Americans every year.

ASSOCIATED ARTICLE: Preventing workplace violence

•Date: 28th August 2003 • Region: N.America •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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