Abstract
Background
A large body of research has shown that terrorism enhances fears and undermines perceived safety in a high proportion of both directly exposed individuals and individuals withoutany form of direct exposure (i.e. no geographical proximity to an attack). Some studies havefurther suggested that fear of terrorism may adversely affect health in those without direct exposure and that this may constitute an important public health burden because of the numberwho are indirectly exposed. Limited studies have investigated threat and safety perception afterworkplace terrorism and the possible consequences for employee health.
Objective
To explore whether perceived safety and threat in employees whose workplace was subjected to a terrorist attack are associated with subsequent sick-leave.Method: A longitudinal questionnaire survey on governmental employees’ perceived safety and threat at work one (T1) and two (T2) years after the 2011 terrorist attack on theNorwegian ministries was linked to registry data on doctor-certified sick-leave for two9-month periods following T1 and T2 (N = 1703).
Results
There was fairly strong evidence (0.004 < p < 0.034) that higher perceived safety was associated with a close to 30% reduction in sick-leave in fully adjusted models whichincluded terror exposure and symptom-based PTSD. There was inconclusive evidence thatlower perceived threat was associated with reduced sick-leave in the full models.
Conclusions
Reduced perceived safety in employees following workplace terrorism may have adverse health consequences of public health significance given how prevalent this perceptionseems to be. The study supports that post-terrorism response plans should include strategies on how to address the potentially large number of individuals suffering ill health after terror even if they were not directly exposed and do not meet criteria for PTSD.