Right now
Danger now is 911. Everything else gets reported today.
A threat at work is not something to carry around quietly or hope was a joke. It has a playbook: document it while it is fresh, hand it to the right person, and know the number to call when nobody inside the building acts.
By Dan Whelan, founder of New World Survival
Researched from government agencies, university extension services, and other published sources. See our sources
What counts
It counts before anyone is touched
OSHA defines workplace violence as any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening behavior at the work site, ranging from verbal abuse to homicide. The threat alone qualifies. A coworker who says what he will do to you, a customer who follows you to your car, a note left on a windshield: these are incidents, not moods, and they belong in the record.
The scale is real without being dramatized: federal injury data for 2023 counted violent acts as the third-leading cause of death on the job. Most incidents are far smaller than that, and the page you are reading exists for the ordinary ones.
Source: OSHA; Bureau of Labor Statistics CFOI (2023)
Right now
Three situations, three answers
Someone is escalating in front of you
Make space, stay calm, and get help; you are not obligated to manage an aggressive person alone. Our disruptive person guide carries the federal de-escalation basics and, more important, the limits. If violence looks imminent, call 911.
Violence is underway
Get away from it and call 911 from safety. For the worst case, the active shooter guide covers run, hide, fight, and what to do when officers arrive. Do not stay to referee a fight between other people.
A threat arrived, in words, a note, or a text
Document it the same day: the exact words, the time and place, who said it, and who else heard or saw it. Save the note or the message; screenshots count. Facts, not your theory of the person. Then it goes to your supervisor, security, or HR under the policy, today, not after the weekend.
Source: OSHA; CISA De-escalation Action Guide (2025)
Reporting inside the company
The policy is supposed to protect everyone
OSHA's guidance to employers is a zero-tolerance policy covering workers, patients, clients, visitors, and contractors, backed by a written prevention program and training on the warning signs. Workers are supposed to know the policy and be able to expect that reported claims will be investigated and remedied promptly.
OSHA also notes that many incidents go unreported. Unreported threats read as isolated events to everyone except the person collecting them; your report is often the one that reveals a pattern. If you do not know who receives reports at your job, finding out takes one question and is worth asking this week, before you need the answer.
Source: OSHA Workplace Violence
If your employer will not act
OSHA takes the call, confidentially
File the complaint
Call 1-800-321-6742, file online, or contact the nearest OSHA office to report an unsafe condition and request an inspection. OSHA states plainly: your information will be kept confidential.
Retaliation is illegal
An employer may not fire, demote, transfer, or otherwise punish a worker for complaining to OSHA or using their legal rights. If it happens anyway, file a whistleblower complaint within 30 days of the retaliation; the deadline is short and strict.
A threat against you personally is also a police matter
OSHA addresses the workplace; a specific threat of violence against you can also be reported to local law enforcement, whatever your employer does or does not do. The two reports do not compete, and neither one waits for the other.
Source: OSHA Workers' rights
Know your job's risk
Some jobs carry more of this than others
The federal risk factors are specific: exchanging money with the public, working with volatile or unstable people, working alone or in isolated spots, providing services and care, serving alcohol, late-night hours, and high-crime locations. Delivery and ride-share drivers, healthcare and social service workers, customer-facing staff, and anyone closing a store alone sit where those factors stack.
If that is your job, or your kid's first job, the useful response is not worry; it is knowing the policy, the reporting channel, and the exits, the same quiet habits every page in this section teaches.
Source: OSHA; NIOSH Violence and Work
Keep going
Go deeper on what matters next
Sources: OSHA Workplace Violence (with 2023 Bureau of Labor Statistics CFOI data), OSHA Workers' rights and complaint process, CISA De-escalation Action Guide (January 2025 edition), NIOSH Violence and Work. All safety claims verified against primary sources. Last reviewed October 25, 2026.
This guide is not legal or professional security advice. It is a plain-language starting point for a worker who wants the next step to be clear.