Perception of threat and safety at work among employees in the Norwegian ministries after the 2011 Oslo bombing.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Terrorism can heighten fears and undermine the feeling of safety. Little is known, however, about the factors that influence threat and safety perception after terrorism. The aim of the present study was to explore how proximity to terror and posttraumatic stress reactions are associated with perceived threat and safety after a workplace terrorist attack.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was administered to employees in 14 of 17 Norwegian ministries 9-10 months after the 2011 bombing of the government headquarters in Oslo (n = 3520).

RESULTS

About 198 of 1881 employees completing the survey were at work when the bomb exploded. Regression analysis showed that this high-exposed group had elevated perceived threat (β = 0.36; 95% CI = 0.19 to 0.53) and reduced perceived safety (β = -0.42; 95% CI = -0.62 to -0.23) compared to a reference group of employees not at work. After adjusting for posttraumatic stress reactions, however, proximity to the explosion no longer mattered, whereas posttraumatic stress was associated with both high perceived threat (β = 0.55; 95% CI = 0.48 to 0.63) and low perceived safety (β = -0.71; 95% CI, -0.80 to -0.63).

CONCLUSION

Terror-exposed employees feel more threatened and less safe after a workplace terrorist attack, and this is closely linked to elevated levels of posttraumatic stress reactions.