Workplace response of companies exposed to the 9/11 World Trade Center attack: a focus‐group study

Abstract

The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 (9/11) left workplaces in pressing need of a mental health response capability. Unaddressed emotional sequelae may be devastating to the productivity and economic stability of a company’s workforce. In the second year after the attacks, 85 employees of five highly affected agencies participated in 12 focus groups to discuss workplace mental health issues. Managers felt ill prepared to manage the magnitude and the intensity of employees’ emotional responses. Rapid return to work, provision of workplace mental health services, and peer support were viewed as contributory to emotional recovery. Formal mental health services provided were perceived as insufficient. Drawing on their post-9/11 workplace experience, members of these groups identified practical measures that they found helpful in promoting healing outside of professional mental health services. These measures, consistent with many principles of psychological first aid, may be applied by workplace leaders who are not mental health professionals.

Fear of terror and increased job burnout over time: Examining the mediating role of insomnia and the moderating role of work support

“…These notions coincide with the findings of North and colleagues (), who studied workplace responses to 9/11 2 years after the attack occurred, using 12 homogeneous focus groups (three managerial and nine non‐managerial) of 85 employees of five highly affected organizations. In these companies, co‐worker support was found to be an important contributor to mental recovery, yet supervisors “… felt ill prepared to manage the magnitude and the intensity of employees' emotional responses” (p. 101).…”

“…In these companies, co‐worker support was found to be an important contributor to mental recovery, yet supervisors “… felt ill prepared to manage the magnitude and the intensity of employees' emotional responses” (p. 101). While North and colleagues' () findings may be attributable to a sample bias, they suggested that supervisors might be incapable of offering adequate support to employees faced with the fear of terror. Thus, it might be worthwhile to investigate whether there are particular domains of supervisor support that may moderate the adverse effect of fear of terror on employee insomnia and job burnout, or whether appropriate training might give supervisors the tools to provide such support.…”

“…It also provides a sense of belongingness and increased security at work and should help employees to better cope with the dual pressures of fear of terror and work demands. Indeed, a recent study indicated that in the wake of 9/11, support from co‐workers contributed to employees' emotional recovery (North et al, ), and low social support contributed to impaired well‐being (for a review, see Perlman et al, ). Third, emotional and instrumental support from supervisors and colleagues may also mitigate any potential adverse effects of insomnia on job burnout by allowing individuals with insomnia to perform better, despite their sleep deprivation.…”

A focus group study of the impact of trauma exposure in the 9/11 terrorist attacks

“…The Institutional Review Boards of the participating academic institutions approved this research. Further details of the sampling methods are available in other published articles [20–22]. …”

An Intervention Framework to Facilitate Psychological Trauma Management in High-Risk Occupations

“…Such events include unexpected, often life-threatening, situations that may inhibit employees' ability to respond in a normal way (Attridge and VandePol, 2010). Over recent years, various workplace-related incidents shook the world, such as terrorist attacks, civil wars, political violence, and state-supported oppression (Lemanski, 2004;Sorensen, 2012;Atvoli et al, 2013;North et al, 2013). These incidents warrant for employers to implement effective programs to manage workplace trauma.…”