Workplace Violence Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Occupational Disparities in Nonfatal Violent...

This study sought to understand the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on nonfatal workplace violence (WPV) experiences of workers in different occupational groups in the United States. The 2017 to 2022 National Crime Victimization Survey data were used to generate national nonfatal WPV rates in the United States for seven occupational groups. We used a quantitative approach to compare the WPV rates across occupational groups before and during the pandemic in light of changes in the routine activities of the U.S. workforce. First, average annual WPV rates by occupational group were compared across study years to identify temporal patterns. Second, average WPV rates for the three pre-pandemic years (2017-2019) and the three pandemic years (2020-2022) were compared to assess changes associated with the pandemic. Third, paired samples t-tests were conducted to determine whether differences in WPV rates between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods were statistically significant for each occupational group. Our analysis of overall patterns revealed several temporal shifts: WPV rates sharply declined in the first pandemic year, surged in the second year, and shifted downward again in the third year. We also found that WPV rates varied across occupational groups and pandemic years, suggesting that these trends reflect differential changes in working environments across occupational groups during distinct phases of the pandemic. These findings highlight the complex and heterogenous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on WPV and underscore the importance of considering occupational and contextual differences when developing policies and interventions to mitigate WPV during public health emergencies.