Consider the following:

• Ours is a violent society and some of that violence finds its way into the workplace.
• One sixth of violent crimes occur in the workplace—nearly 2 million incidents a year.
• More than 600 people die each year nationwide from violent acts in the workplace.
• Tens of thousands of people are assaulted at work each week—often by people they know.
• Violence costs millions in lost productivity, legal fees, and other related expenses every year.

For help in preparing for potential violence, we turned to BLR’s popular 10-Minute HR Trainer.

Some Job Types More at Risk

In assessing the risks faced by your employees, remember that certain job types pose a higher risk for violence—for example:

• Handling cash or valuables
• Working alone
• Working late-night or early-morning hours
• Working in high-crime areas
• Guarding property, cash, or valuables
• Working in community settings

Be Aware of Many Types of Potential Perpetrators

There are many motivations which can contribute to violence in the workplace, and it’s often not strangers that commit the violent acts. For example:

• Current employees may feel they are being unfairly treated or they may have personal problems that drive them to act out violently.
• Violence may also break out when there is unresolved conflict between employees or between groups of employees.
• Former employees might return to the workplace filled with rage because they have been fired or laid off and want revenge against their supervisor and the company.

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• Customers, vendors, and delivery people may perpetrate acts of violence against employees.
• Other outsiders, such as friends and partners of employees, ex-spouses, and former boyfriends and girlfriends, may also enter the workplace to commit acts of violence against employees.
• Thieves and muggers could resort to violence during commission of crimes in and around your facility, and rapists by definition are violent criminals.
• Today, terrorists must also be included on this list, even if the risk for your company is slight.

Explain and Enforce

Just writing a policy isn’t enough. Publicize the organization’s Violence Prevention Policy, and train on it as opportunities are available at departmental meetings, for example. Specifically:

• Make sure you are familiar with the organization’s violence prevention policy. (If you don’t have such a policy, write one.)
• Make sure that all employees know that the purpose of the policy is to clarify the issue of workplace violence and put all employees on notice that the organization is committed to providing a safe and respectful environment for everyone who works or visits here. 
• Be sure that the policy establishes a zero tolerance for violence and states that any acts or threats of violence will be taken seriously and may lead to discipline, including termination.
• The policy should make all employees responsible for maintaining a violence-free workplace. 
• Stress that all incidents must be taken seriously and reported, even if there is no actual violence.
• Your role is to communicate the policy to employees and enforce it strictly.

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Take Effective Action to Prevent Workplace Violence

First of all, require employees to comply with all established security procedures. In particular:

• Make sure visitors to your department are met in the lobby and escorted.
• Inform security personnel about anyone you don’t want allowed on the premises.
• Report strangers, including people loitering outside and in parking areas.
• Don’t open strange or unexpected packages or letters—send them to security.
• Warn employees to guard all security information, access codes, keys, etc., carefully and to never lend them to anyone—inside or outside the company.
• Take advantage of security systems, and report if they are not functioning properly.
• Report other security problems, such as burned out lights or broken locks.
• When employees are working late, make sure that they tell someone when and where they will be, and encourage them to stay near a phone.

In addition, the 10-Minute Trainer suggests:

• Arrange a danger signal or code phrase with employees to alert co-workers to trouble.
• Take all threats seriously and deal with them according to company policy.

In tomorrow’s Advisor, more on violence including a sample handout, plus an introduction to the unique 10-Minute HR trainer.