DoD lacks a comprehensive department-wide program to address workplace violence threats and incidents and should establish one, according to a DoD IG report.
It said that in the absence of such a program, the military services and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency use different approaches to address workplace violence and as a result, military personnel, DoD civilian employees, and contractors are “not equally prepared to prevent and respond to an act of workplace violence, which could jeopardize their safety during a threat or incident.”
It said that workplace violence can take many forms ranging from verbal abuse to life-threatening acts, and often are triggered by anger over disciplinary actions or the loss of a job, hate incidents or crimes, domestic violence or road rage.
It said that a working group established in the wake of the shootings at Ft. Hood, Texas, did study workplace violence from the perspective of an insider threat but that resulted in no comprehensive prevention and response program. DoD did issue guidance, but that applies only to civilian employees, not military personnel or contractor employees who work on DoD installations, it said.
“Military personnel, DoD civilian employees, and contractors were not equally prepared to prevent and respond to an act of workplace violence. The level of preparedness also varied among services and tenants located on the same installation,” it added.
It said that DoD is working on the issue, but a comprehensive policy could still be some time off in the future and that in the meantime it should at least establish interim policies governing contractor employees.
