Employers Take Stock of How to Bolster Workplace Security

The murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4 has many CEOs and workers on edge, and some HR departments are taking dramatic steps to bolster security. 

At-Risk Industries

Health care and financial services companies are more frequent targets of threats than those in other industries, according to former FBI agent Tim Gallagher, who now works as chief security officer and physical security and reputational threat mitigation practice head for Nardello, a global investigations firm. 

“While in the FBI, I worked with gangs, homicides, terrorism, and financial crimes, and the only time I ever received a death threat was in a health care case,” he said. 

A Dec. 12 New York Times article describes the toll the vitriol is taking on UnitedHealthcare employees. Employees are fearful for their own safety and feel they are being vilified for simply trying to do their jobs.

In a video circulated on CNN, Andrew Witty, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, sought to reassure grieving employees, affirm the tragic loss of Thompson, and reiterate the “profoundly shocking and disturbing” nature of the crime. 

Some HR departments in the health care industry have reportedly implemented significant safety measures in the wake of the shooting, including: 

•  Closing offices temporarily.

• Removing biographical information and photos from company websites. 

• Forgoing in-person meetings. 

Threats against company executives and front-line workers have been on the rise. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, homicides accounted for 61.7% of fatalities in the workplace in 2022, with 524 deaths—an 8.9% increase from 2021. Intentional shootings increased from 387 to 435 in 2022. Almost a quarter (24.6%) of fatalities due to homicides occurred while a worker was tending a retail establishment or waiting on customers. 

The National Safety Council reports that service providers and those in the education industry are also more prone to workplace violence. In 2021-22 assaults resulted in 57,610 injuries; in 2022, 525 fatalities due to assault were reported.

Gallagher cites that 58% of senior executives at companies with more than 5,000 employees said their CEO received physical threats after taking a position on a racial or political issue in 2022.

Hostile terminations have driven a steeper rise in threats against workers for clients of Global Guardian, an international security firm.

However, “Our No. 1 concern right now are people with grievances who become negatively energized on social media and will seek to carry out copycat threats,” said global intelligence and counterterrorism expert Seth Krummrich, vice president of client risk management at Global Guardian. 

For HR professionals, a continued focus on fostering a state of well-being among employees and keeping their finger on the pulse of day-to-day interactions taking place in a confined workspace is key, said Jim Link, SHRM-SCP, CHRO at SHRM.

Safety Preparations

In terms of compliance, the federal Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act includes a general duty clause requiring employers to “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.” According to OSHA’s Enforcement Procedures and Scheduling for Occupational Exposure to Workplace Violence, “employers may be found in violation of the General Duty Clause if they fail to reduce or eliminate serious recognized hazards.” 

Working with a “duty of care” security partner to develop and implement a corporate security program helps companies employ the latest threat-monitoring tools and techniques to prevent workplace violence. These include: 

• The appropriate use of platforms to collect and scrub data from the surface web and the dark net as it relates to the company. 

• Relationships with local law enforcement. 

• A wide range of advanced visual deterrents, such as cameras monitored 24/7. 

• Added presence in volatile situations such as hostile terminations. 

• The safeguarding of venues and individuals during times of high threats, such as at publicly advertised functions and during routine workdays. 

Gallagher said that today’s threat actors—those who seek to physically harm public figures—have an abundance of publicly available digital information that typically allows them to conduct preoperational investigation surveillance on their intended targets. Working with a security partner also allows businesses to be more informed and agile in their decision-making processes so that they can move at the right level and speed of execution, Krummrich notes. 

In evaluating the cost of a security partner, security spend must be treated as an enterprisewide risk. A single security incident can drastically impact the entire organization and damage a company’s brand, so the cost-benefit analysis of security spending needs to take that into account.

HR professionals can find themselves in a unique position as both the leaders of workplace violence prevention and sometimes also the targets of employee rage.

“Companies that prioritize the health and well-being of employees, which includes good health care benefits, and who have the appropriate safety and security protocols in place, will be the best positioned to mitigate threats in the workplace and prevent workplace violence,” Link said. 

Vulnerability exists in out of workplaces, but employers should be proactive about mitigating risks where they can and alerting employees to potential threats in both environments.

Related Resources: 

The SHRM Toolkit: Understanding Workplace Violence Prevention and Response

SHRM Content Partner: How to Spot Potential Attacker Red Flags