Chicago Workers' Compensation Attorney Blog

While responding to a disturbance involving several students at the end of the school day, a 27-year-old elementary school teacher was stabbed by a student. A laceration to his left shoulder required at least six stitches to close the wound. A 13-year-old boy, who was later spotted dropping a bloody instrument down a nearby sewer, has been arrested and charged with one count of aggravated battery to a protected employee. It is believed the weapon may have been a razor knife or box cutter, CBS-2 in Chicago reported.

In 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that out of 158 Illinois work-related fatalities, 36 workers were killed in incidents involving violence in the workplace. During 2008 and 2009, 1,604 American workers died in violence-related workplace fatalities, broken down as follows:

~ 1,047 homicides

~ 841 shootings

~ 81 stabbings, and

~ 500 self-inflicted injuries

The BLS further reported that within the educational profession alone, in 2009 there were 60 work-related fatalities, 9 caused by violent assault.

A study published by the Center for Disease Control, reveals a disturbing trend of workplace violence facing K-12 school staff across the country. On average, teachers experience 39 crimes – 14 violent crimes and 25 crimes of theft – per 1,000 teachers. It is believed that the actual rate of incidents is much higher and these numbers are deflated because many incidents go unreported.

Between 1993 and 1999, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that American workers were exposed to 1.7 million acts of violence in the workplace. Overall, workplace violence accounted for 18 percent of all reported violent crime during this time span.

These acts included:

~ 1.3 million cases of “simple assault” (for example: being threatened with a stick)

~ 325,000 acts of “aggravated assault” (for example: being threatened with a gun or knife)

~ 36,500 rapes and sexual assaults

~ 70,000 robberies, and

~ 900 homicides