Work place mass murder. Anyone else fear someone on the job?

Question

Not a joke question!
I work for a company with no security. Many people get fired all the time that seem to have mental issue's. Anyone else fear this?

Answer 1

shoot yes..there have been a few crazies...and i make sure i say hi and their name each time i see them..cause when they come back with a gun..i want them to remember i was nice and always spoke to them...

Answer 2

How 'bout having a little more compassion for the mentally postal? Ever wonder why people tend to become that way? Every person doesn't start out like that to begin with. Think about it for a moment. 80% is almost always stress-related on the job, 15% - having a boss from hell, and 5% having a co-worker who can't handle the job, has personal issues, is chemically co-dependent on something or on antidepressants, or something else, and so they tend to take it out on their fellow co-worker.

It isn't always a matter of security issues. You can't always judge a person by their temperament. There's always help available, but not everyone realizes this and others refuse treatment. Doing background checks on an individual before hiring them is usually an invasion of privacy, but at least an employer can begin to get an idea of the person's past criminal or illness history before they even begin to hire the individual.

Now if firing someone due to mental issues is the only excuse for "no security" reasons ~ I simply call that lack of good judgement & management in employee retention and poor implementation of equal task delegation. Maybe your boss needs to be either retrained or fired.

Answer 3

I don't have a personal issue with it, but I have a very dear friend who has been employed at a local bar for fourteen years, and I truly believe she will eventually be the victim of a psychopathic, psychotic boss. Over the years, he has exhibited quick temper 'tantrums'; astonishing rage for no real reasons; extreme "possessiveness" over his female employees; terrible mismanagement; verbal and physical abuse directed toward females employees; and an out-of-control disdain for many of his employees and customers.
Two of three key people have quit in recent months, and as the pressure mounts, my friend becomes more and more the target of his rage and anger when things don't get done right. He works her 18 hours a day with no lunch or dinner breaks - not even a five-minute 'rest'. He is very demanding, extremely unreasonable (if customers express any concern over her grueling work schedule, they are 'banned' from the bar). I sincerely believe she is in real danger, yet she refuses to quit because she needs the money; she refuses to allow me to give her money so that she can take a month or two off to recharge her energy and look for another job; and she honestly believes she can "take care of herself" if he becomes violent. I am sure that if she is the victim of foul play, comes up missing, is injured under mysterious circumstances, or disappears, her boss will be the prime suspect. Yet, the local police tell me there's nothing they can do until - or unless - he does commit an actual violent crime! I am seriously concerned, but don't know what to do about it. -RKO- 04/28/07

Answer 4

I worked with a gentleman who looks exactly like "machine" from the movie 8 Millimeter. He has a high pitched scream like giggle that he lets out at random odd moments. He lurks - it is not uncommon to look up and find he has been standing behind you for 10 minutes. It has also been reported that he has eaten lunch in the men's bathroom on more than one occasion. He is an all around very creepy guy. The topper - one day someone's hydraulics on their chair exploded - our manager hit the floor believing someone (this freak) had opened fire on the office. Someday he will snap and those of us who survive will be offered grief counseling. All because "he hasn't done anything yet" that he can be fired for...

Answer 5

I work at a mental health center and we have people threaten us all the time. The closest I came to an employee threatening violence was when I was at a department Christmas party at someone's house and this old depressed guy "joked" about shooting the supervisors and then himself because he was told he had poor work performance. He had guns in the trunk of his car and showed a few people his guns. I left the party as people were going out to look. One of the supervisors heard about the guns, called the police, and the guy was interviewed by the mental health counselors where we all work.

Answer 6

work for the post office, eh?

yeah, well it is a pretty common fear, but not too common of a reality. (then again, once is one too many)

and, what can you do about it? you can't bring it up to your boss, because that just puts you under scrutiny for being "unstable"

and with the lacking justice system, more concerned with the politics and profits of the cases than the actual moral codes and common sense, what deterrent do scorned employees, who may be in and out of jobs, and unstable in other aspects of their lives as well, have for not killing their ex co-workers and bosses?

Answer 7

Oh yes, I ended up quitting a very good job for this very reason. I had gotten a promotion and a co-worker wasn't so happy about it. (1994)
She was constantly in my office making off the wall comments. She was always trying to do my work. And didn't do a good job at that. I finally asked her to let me do my work, it wasn't her responsibility.

(She knew that we had lost a daughter to cancer in 1990.)

She came in my office one day and said she wanted to kick my @ss. I asked her to leave. She said your daughter is lucky. I said, how is that? She then said, because she got to die and get away from you.

I knew at that point management wasn't going to do anything about it. They seen it as squabble. But I seen a girl ready to go on a rampage. So I left that job.

Answer 8

That's scary. There was someone let go at my job and he was really upset about it because the way the managers fired him he felt really embarrassed. A couple of days later we received numerous bomb threats. Alot of people believe that it was him who had made the calls and given how he acted while he was working with us I wouldn't put anything past him. It's a horrible feeling when you don't feel safe in your workplace.

Answer 9

i suppose it's always a possibility it could happen at any place of employment..but a person can't live in fear of that going on unless someone exhibits such behaviour. It's something that just can't be predicted and to fear the unpredictable is living life too cautiously.

Answer 10

I work for a school district and have mad parents yelling outside of my office quite often...... I've already made a mental plan of action for when one is carrying a gun.

Answer 11

I work at a middle school, and every time I write a kid up or otherwise tick them off, I wonder if they are going to come in some day and seek revenge....