Workplace Violence
Disclaimer
•
This training material presents very important information.
•
Your organization must do an evaluation of all exposures, applicable codes
and regulations, and establish proper controls, training, and protective
measures to effectively control exposures and assure compliance.
•
This program is neither a determination that the conditions and practices
of your organization are safe nor a warranty that reliance upon this
program will prevent accidents and losses or satisfy local, state or federal
regulations.
•
All procedures and training, whether required by law or not, should be
implemented and reviewed by safety and risk management professionals,
and legal counsel to ensure that all local, state and federal requirements
are satisfied.
Course Outline – Workplace Violence
1. Why Take Workplace Violence Training?
2. What is Workplace Violence?
3. Workplace Violence Factors
4. Violence Prevention Program
5. Training Guidelines
6. Recordkeeping and Evaluation
7. Summary
8. Resources
Why Take Workplace Violence Training?
Workplace violence training is important:
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Homicide is one of the leading
causes of fatalities in the workplace
every year.
•
Women are more likely than men
to be a victim of a violent crime.
•
Retail establishments have the
largest share of homicides in
convenience and grocery stores,
eating and drinking places, and
gasoline service stations.
Why Take Workplace Violence Training?
Violent crime statistical comparison:
1600000
1400000
1200000
1000000
800000
600000
simple assaults
aggravated assaults
rapes, sexual assaults
robberies
homicides
400000
200000
0
Assaults and violent threats exceed 2 million incidents
a year. Simple assaults exceed 1.5 million a year.
Why Take Workplace Violence Training?
Economic impact of workplace violence:
•
Costs 500,000 employees
about 1,175,100 lost work
days each year.
•
Lost wages exceed $55 million
annually.
•
Lost productivity, legal
expenses, property damage,
diminished public image and
increased security totals in the
billions.
What is Workplace Violence?
Workplace violence defined:
• Any physical assault, threatening
behavior, or verbal abuse occurring
in the work setting.
• The most common type of
workplace fatality is a shooting
during the robbery of a retail,
service or transportation worker.
What is Workplace Violence?
Workplace violence includes:
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Beatings
•
Stabbings
•
•
•
•
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Suicides
Shootings
Rapes
Near-suicides (attempted)
Psychological traumas
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Threats
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Obscene phone calls
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Intimidation
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Harassment of any nature
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Being stalked
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Verbal abuse, e.g. swearing, shouting
What is Workplace Violence?
Examples of workplace violence:
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Verbal threats to inflict bodily harm, e.g., vague or covert threats.
•
Attempting to cause physical harm, e.g., striking, pushing, other
aggressive physical acts against another person.
•
Verbal harassment, e.g., abusive or offensive language, gestures or
other discourteous conduct towards anyone.
•
Disorderly conduct, e.g., shouting, throwing or pushing objects,
punching walls, slamming doors.
What is Workplace Violence?
Examples of workplace violence (continued):
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Making false, malicious or unfounded
statements against coworkers, supervisors, or
subordinates which tend to damage their
reputations or undermine their authority.
•
Inappropriate remarks or making delusional
statements.
•
Fascination with guns and weapons, or
bringing them into the workplace (depending
on the situational context and company policy,
this could be construed as a threat).
Workplace Violence Factors
Some common causes:
•
Mentally ill patients:
– An increasing number of acute and chronically mentally ill
patients are being released from hospitals without follow-up
care.
– They are often not hospitalized involuntarily unless they pose
a threat to themselves or others.
– They often have the right to refuse medication.
•
Trauma patients
•
Distraught family members
•
Gang members
Workplace Violence Factors
Some common causes (continued):
•
Insufficient hospital security:
– Unrestricted movement of the public in
clinics and hospitals.
– Low staffing levels during times of
increased activity such as meal and
visiting times, or when transporting
patients.
•
Proliferation of the drug epidemic:
– Drugs at hospitals, clinics, and
pharmacies make them likely robbery
targets.
Workplace Violence Factors
Workplace risk factors to be aware of:
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Personal contact with the public.
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Exchanging of money.
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Delivery services.
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Mobile workplaces, e.g. taxicab,
police cruiser, security detail.
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Solo work in remote or high
crime settings, without back-up
means for obtaining assistance.
•
Environments with limited
communication or without
security systems.
Workplace Violence Factors
Workplace risk factors to be aware of (continued):
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Working alone or in small numbers.
•
Working late, at night, or during
early morning hours.
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Poorly-lighted parking areas.
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Guarding valuable property or
possessions.
•
Isolated work with clients during
exams or treatment.
•
Lack of training in recognizing and
managing escalating hostile and
aggressive behavior.
Violence Prevention Program
Elements of a violence prevention program:
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Management commitment
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Employee involvement
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Worksite analysis
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Hazard prevention and control
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Employee training
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Recordkeeping and evaluation
Violence Prevention Program
Management commitment motivates:
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Take all threats of incidents seriously.
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Develop a zero tolerance prevention policy.
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Develop a reporting process.
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Develop a site security plan.
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Partner with police, associations, and
landlords to improve security.
•
Assign responsibility, authority and
resources.
•
Hold employees accountable and encourage involvement.
Violence Prevention Program
Employee involvement:
•
Employee involvement and feedback will enable workers to show
their commitment. They can:
– Participate in surveys and offer suggestions.
– Assist in security analysis and inspection.
– Help evaluate prevention and control measures.
– Train other employees.
– Share on-the-job experiences with other employees.
•
Employees who report problems or an incident must not be punished
or discriminated against.
Violence Prevention Program
Perform a worksite hazard analysis:
•
Conduct a step-by-step, common sense look at
the workplace to find existing and potential
hazards:
‒ Review records and past incidents
‒ Perform a workplace security analysis
‒ Carry out periodic safety audits
•
Develop a team to assess vulnerability to
workplace violence and determine appropriate
actions.
‒ Analyze and track records
‒ Monitor trends and analyze incidents
‒ Screen surveys
‒ Analyze workplace security
Violence Prevention Program
Types of preventive control measures:
1. Engineering controls and workplace adaptation.
2. Administrative and work practice controls.
3. Post incident response.
These prevention strategies do work:
•
The risk of robbery can be reduced by:
‒ Increasing the effort a perpetrator must
expend.
‒ Increasing the perpetrator’s risks.
‒ Reducing the prospect of perpetrator
rewards.
Violence Prevention Program
1. Engineering controls:
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Visibility and lighting
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Metal detectors
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Drop safes
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Video surveillance
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Height markers
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Door detectors, buzzers
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Alarms
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Bullet resistant barriers
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Safe rooms for use during emergencies
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Deep service counters or bullet-resistant glass
Violence Prevention Program
2. Administrative and work practice controls:
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Integrate violence prevention into daily procedures.
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Be clear that violence will not be tolerated or permitted.
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Keep minimal cash in the register.
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Set up emergency procedures, systems of communication.
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Use barriers and enclosures.
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Increase staffing at high risk locations and/or times.
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Establish a liaison with local police and state prosecutors.
Violence Prevention Program
2. Administrative and work practice controls (continued):
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Require employees to report all assaults and threats.
•
Set up trained response teams to respond to emergencies.
•
Lock delivery doors.
•
Establish rules for workers
leaving facility.
•
Lock doors when not open.
•
Have procedures for opening
and closing doors.
•
Limit access.
•
Adopt safety procedures for off-site work.
Violence Prevention Program
3. Post incident response:
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Get medical care for injured victims.
•
Report to police and other authorities.
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Inform management.
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Secure the premises – safeguard evidence.
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Prepare incident report immediately.
•
Employee assistance programs for victims.
•
Arrange psychological treatment for victims:
– Trauma-crisis counseling
– Critical incident stress debriefing
Training Guidelines
Staff awareness of security hazards and protective procedures:
•
All employees should be trained in:
‒ Potential risks
‒ Operational procedures
‒ Use of security measures
‒ Behavioral strategies
‒ Incident response
‒ Emergency action plan
Training Guidelines
Supervisors, managers, and security personnel:
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Must have the same training as all other workers.
•
Additional training must be provided to help them recognize,
analyze and establish controls.
Training Guidelines
Important elements to teach employees:
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Concept of “universal precautions for violence”, i.e., violence should
be expected but can be avoided or mitigated through preparation.
•
The importance of limiting physical interventions in workplace
altercations, except in the case of designated emergency response
team or security personnel.
Other key concepts:
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Learn the workplace violence prevention policy.
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Know the risk factors that cause or contribute to assaults.
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Know how to recognize escalating behavior or warning signs.
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Learn ways to prevent volatile situations.
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Know the standard response action plan for violent situations.
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Be aware of the location and operation of safety devices.
Recordkeeping and Evaluation
Purpose of keeping records:
•
Recordkeeping and evaluation of
the violence prevention program is
necessary to determine the overall
effectiveness of the program.
•
It helps identify deficiencies or
changes that should be made.
Recordkeeping and Evaluation
Keep detailed records of the following:
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Incident reports, e.g. abuse, verbal attacks,
aggressive behavior.
•
Medical reports, e.g. work injuries or assaults.
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Hazard analyses and corrective actions.
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Training and safety meetings minutes.
•
OSHA log of injury and illness.
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Information on people with history of violence.
•
Recommendations from police, consultants, and
employees.
Recordkeeping and Evaluation
Evaluation:
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Establish a uniform violence reporting system.
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Regularly review the results of safety audits.
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Review post-incident reports.
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Review minutes from safety meetings.
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Analyze trends in incidents, injuries, etc.
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Consult with employees before and after
worksite changes.
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Update information on violence prevention
strategies.
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Measure trends and improvements on a
recurring schedule.
Summary
Summary:
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The statistics: Homicide is the 2nd leading cause of workplace
•
Workplace violence defined: Any physical assault, threatening
•
Employer responsibility: Employers have a general duty to provide
•
Management commitment: It is essential to provide a motivating
deaths.
behavior, or verbal abuse occurring in the work setting.
their employees with a workplace free from recognized hazards
likely to cause death or serious physical harm.
force to deal effectively with workplace violence.
Summary
Summary (continued):
•
Employee involvement and feedback: Enables workers to develop
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Preparation is the key: Violence should be expected but it can be
•
Recordkeeping and evaluation: Analysis of the violence prevention
and express their commitment to safety and health.
avoided or mitigated through specific preventive measures.
program helps determine overall effectiveness and to identify
deficiencies or changes that should be made.
Don’t let workplace violence come as a surprise. Managers and
employees must take the time to be trained and equipped. Recognition
of the danger signs facilitates appropriate preventive and responsive
measures.
Resources
Additional resources:
•
OSHA Internet Site www.osha.gov
•
OSHA State Programs
•
NIOSH
Workplace Violence
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