Prevent Violence in the Workplace

03/07/07

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, 57 percent of the HR professionals it recently surveyed said that a violent incident had occurred in their workplace over a three-year period ending in 1999.

Looking at raw numbers is even scarier: The U.S. Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Survey places the number of workplace assaults or threats at about 2 million a year.

The good news is that you can take constructive steps to reduce the possibility that violence will erupt in your workplace.

Three Types of Violence
Experts categorize workplace violence three ways:

Type one: The person causing the violence has no connection to the organization. Violent acts include robberies, random assaults on company personnel and property, and so on.
Type two: The person causing the violence is a client, customer, or recipient of a service provided by the organization. Examples: violent airline passengers or clients of a drug rehab center.
Type three: The person causing the violence is a current or former employee, or is related to an employee. Examples include an ex-employee who has come back to get revenge, an employee who threatens another, or the abusive spouse of an employee who attacks her on company property.

Right now, “type three” violence is getting lots of media attention based on high-profile violent acts. The fact is, however, that most workplace violence consists of the first two types. In any case, employers have a general obligation to maintain a safe workplace. Thus it’s important to have plans to prevent violence of any type—or handle it if it occurs.

Create Anti-Violence Procedures
If an assault happened in your warehouse, would you know what to do? If not, your first job is to create procedures for deterring and handling violent acts. They should include:

Zero tolerance policy. Express strongly, in a formal policy, your intolerance for any kind of workplace violence.
Reporting procedures. Make reporting any incident or threat of violence the obligation of all employees. Outline how and to whom a complaint should be made.

Provide for different reporting procedures, depending on the nature and severity of the incident. A physical assault from a customer, for example, requires an immediate call to the local police. On the other hand, a mild threat made by one worker to another can sometimes best be handled internally.

Make sure employees have a means of circumventing an abusive supervisor if need be. Some companies maintain a toll-free hotline to which employees can complain confidentially.

Response procedures. Outline how you will deal with any violent act, especially those that harm an employee physically. Make the instructions perfectly clear, so no time is wasted. Besides alerting the police, secure the area where the incident occurred and ensure the safety of other employees in whatever ways are necessary.

You’ll also need to respond to threats that haven’t been carried out, as well as the general threat posed by employees who may be unstable.

Many experts suggest you create a “threat assessment team,” made up of managers, HR and legal professionals, representatives from your employee assistance program, security consultants, and hourly employees, among others.

You can probably find people with expertise in certain areas, like how to assess and control risks, heed the warning signs of violence, investigate violent acts, or defuse hostilities. If not, choose bright people for your team and train them.

Investigating procedures. Outline how you’ll investigate incidents, and who will perform the job. When there is an incident, make sure you get all the details —words spoken, physical actions, witnesses, relevant history, the response of anyone in authority, etc. You want a clear, comprehensive paper trail that helps you deal with the situation effectively.

Follow-up procedures. Outline how you’ll handle the victims of violence, who are likely to be emotionally—if not physically—battered. Refer employees to an employee assistance program for ongoing counseling, if need be.

Assess Workplace Risks
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health cites the factors that increase a worker’s risk of being a victim of workplace violence:

Contact with the public

Exchange of money

Delivery of passengers, goods, or services

Having a mobile workplace

Working with unstable or volatile persons in health care, social service, or criminal justice settings

Working alone or in small numbers

Working late at night or early in the morning

Working in high-crime areas

Guarding valuable property

Working in community settings


Think deeply about the kind of jobs your employees do. Are they exposed to the risk factors above?

Don’t think alone. Survey your employees to find out what about the workplace makes them feel insecure or unsafe. Also, check your OSHA accident logs. They may reveal a recurring pattern of violence of a certain type.

Make a list of the risk factors unique to your workplace. Then take steps to…

Control the Risks
Control risks two ways:

1. Implement environmental/engineering controls. Controls to consider include: physical barriers, like bullet-resistant enclosures or deep counters; alarm systems; security guards; safes; hidden “panic” buttons attached to security systems; bright lights, inside or out; cell phones or beepers for field personnel; mirrors; surveillance cameras; an interior design that permits the visibility of transactions or service from the street; enough exits to ensure employees don’t get trapped; metal detectors; automatic door locks; signs that say, for example, “Cash registers emptied hourly.”

2. Implement administrative/work-practice controls. Consider any of these ideas: appropriate staffing; special procedures for those working late or early; special procedures for those in retail or other public settings; sign-in for visitors; badges for workers and visitors; call-in procedures for employees in the field; pre-employment screening; employee assistance programs; planned maintenance programs for vehicles to ensure locks work, etc.; escort services.

Train Employees
Once you’ve created procedures for handling violence and assessed workplace risks, train your employees. For example, make sure they understand how to report and respond to violence, recognize security hazards, defuse hostile situations, handle cash or travel safely, and use hardware like alarm systems.

Your local police department may also be a source of free training in such things as how to avoid being the victim of rape or robbery.

Some employees may need special training in areas like incident investigation, first aid, on-the-spot counseling, or cash-handling.

Supervisors and managers need training in all these areas, plus a few others:

Leadership/communication. Supervisors need to set an example and learn to keep the lines of communications open with all employees at all times.
Crisis/emergency management. Beyond understanding procedures, supervisors need to remain calm under fire.
Discipline. Supervisors must understand how disciplinary action affects employees emotionally and the possible consequences.