Deadly workplace?

So, as of June 9th I have been working at the same company for 20 years. It is a manufacturing plant that is part of a global company with annual sales of over $5 billion US. I work in engineering, and have for most of the 20 years I've been with the company. We have around 350 (hourly and salary) people working at this facility at any given time, and I am wondering if we are unusual in terms of deaths when compared to similar workplaces.

This might seem like an odd thing to say, but maybe you will undertand my questioning when I realy some things.....

Not long ago one of our tool and die makers was murdered at a local pub. He was shot 7 times in the back - nasty. This is the first murder in my small city of 35,000 people in about 20 years, and the first shooting murder that I can ever recall. It just happened that this guy worked where I work.

This week, one of the machine operators out on the shop floor killed himself. He apparently shot himself in the head. He seemed like a noral fellow, and whenever I had to deal with him, he was always cooperative and seemed happy.

This is not the first suicide of someone who worked at our facility. About 10 years ago, we had someone kill himself at the plant. He went to the basement of a remote area of our plant, and hung himself. He hung there for about 18 hours before he was found.

So, certainly the guy who was killed at the pub could have been anyone, but does anyone find the rate of 2 people from one plant killing themselves in about 10 years a bit high? I'm certainly not wondering if "I'm next" or anything, but it does make you wonder if there is something about this place that makes it prone to having it's employees kill themselves.

If anyone out there works in a similar sized place, I would be interested to know how many of your fellow workers have "offed" themselves.......

In my line of work, I've seen many people commit political suicide. But never actually off themselves.

Al, all three of these guys... are they hourly wage earners? Were their jobs monotonous? Any other suicides in other plants within the organization? I know that large manufacturers have people rotate jobs so they don't get too bored with what they do (likely a reason for bad QC at the big three auto giants).

I'm no expert, but IMO two suicides in 10 years seems odd for a manufacturing plant.

[dman]

I have only been at this club for 3 years, but there has been one suicide. It was a member that had some serious financial problems that involved the law. This past Christmas we had three employees killed in seperate car accidents.

[Launch Mini]

I only have 7 employees in my office. No one has offed themselves yet.
I have offered to assist two of them , but I do get tempted ( to off them, not myself)

[C.J.]

I've been on my job for twelve years, now..............................Seven, so far

Originally Posted by Atomic

In my line of work, I've seen many people commit political suicide. But never actually off themselves.

Al, all three of these guys... are they hourly wage earners? Were their jobs monotonous? Any other suicides in other plants within the organization? I know that large manufacturers have people rotate jobs so they don't get too bored with what they do (likely a reason for bad QC at the big three auto giants).

I'm no expert, but IMO two suicides in 10 years seems odd for a manufacturing plant.

All 3 of these guys were hourly, and to a degree the jobs are the same every day. Simple psychological principles dictate that the feeling of not having any control or influence over your workplace (or small portion of it) leads to negative feelings and sometime depression. I think no matter what level you are at, you get this to a point, but certainly those on production lines are more vulnerable to this kind of thing.

I think there is good and bad in different positions. For instance, on the shop floor when your job is turn out X number of widgets in a day, the job may be monotonous but at the end of the day you "should" be able to leave it behind. For someone like me, I have more control over the day, the job, and it's outcome, but also have some sleepless nights because of those very same things.

I don't know for sure what I am really looking for in this thread, but maybe it's more related to the times we live in than anything else. Who knows....

Originally Posted by C.J.

I've been on my job for twelve years, now..............................Seven, so far

Considering your job, I guess that doesn't surprise me.......

[Launch Mini]

I do all the "estate" taxes in our office. So I get to hear all the horrible stories about how they have "departed".
Some are pretty ugly, some tell me more details than I need to know to do there taxes. I feel like im a councellor (sp) some days.
I'm getting thick skin because of all this. Now , my mom is terminally ill, I sometimes feel like a A-hole dealing with my siblings, because to me, I go into "work mode" and its all about the facts.
Not sure if that's good or bad???