If you are like me, you like to stay informed, but sometimes hate to turn on the news because it is depressing. Overwhelmingly, what we hear is bad. Unfortunately, workplace violence is one of those types of news stories that can seemingly come out of nowhere, leave us in shock, and not only praying for the families of those directly affected by the most-current incident, but also wondering who else could one day become a victim of workplace violence. Violence in the workplace has almost become, if not routine, too commonplace, it seems. Because we don’t know where the next unfortunate incident might occur, it is that much more imperative that we all remain prepared.
In the past, law enforcement, fast-food, and convenience-store employees were typically more susceptible to violence while on duty. Often people who worked in the aforementioned occupations were often the victims of robbery or criminals trying to elude being caught by police after committing such acts. Sadly, not only have the instances of workplace violence increased substantially but have become indiscriminate when it comes to occupation or location.
One such recent example occurred this past Tuesday when I was startled, to say the least, when I received a push notification on my cell phone that an active shooter incident was in progress at the YouTube headquarters in California. Subsequent reports confirmed one of my worst fears…people had lost their lives during the incident, including the shooter.
Incidents like this make me so grateful that when I worked as a member of the Diversity and Equal Opportunity (DEO) team for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), which is the 9th largest public transportation agency in the US, our team had the fortunate opportunity to collaborate with the MARTA police department to develop a Workplace Violence Awareness and Anti-bullying/discrimination training session. That was quite possibly the wisest investment in time and human resources that our organization could have made. We held several sessions and invited employees to sign up for them voluntarily. As you may imagine, there was a great amount of interest. Attendees walked away with a better understanding of the types of behavior that constitutes workplace violence; MARTA’s policy against such behavior; and the steps to take if a workplace violence incident occurred.
Silver Back Safety & Training Solutions, Inc. tracked 160 workplace violence incidents in the US from 2000 to 2013, during which 486 people were killed and 557 were wounded, not counting the shooters involved (www.silverbacksafety.com). Fast forward…CNN reported that 136 mass shootings were reported in the US, across 29 states in 2016, (www.toonzone.net). That is more than half of the states that make up the United States of America.
One day after work, I was standing on the platform waiting for the next train to arrive. While there, I noticed a couple of people walking around taking pictures of different parts of the platform. There had already been quite a few transit station attacks both here in the US and abroad. I remembered that during the training, MARTA police encouraged us on the importance of saying something if we saw something. The has also stressed that attackers usually case their targets before attacking it. Just as I was about to call the MARTA police, I saw two officers walking the platform, then almost simultaneously I realized that there were also two male models wearing some funky athletic shoes. They were posing for the two camera people and were actually doing a sneaker ad, so they were obviously authorized to be there. Boy, was I relieved. Now my heart could stop racing at the thought of someone possibly casing my place of employment.
- Have, and enforce, a workplace violence prevention policy/program – Educate employees on organization’s no-tolerance stance towards violence, bullying, and discrimination in the workplace. Make the program a part of the organization’s new employee orientation process. Make sure that everyone who does business with, and on behalf of, the organization, understands that physical contact is not the only form of workplace violence that can exist. They need know that verbal confrontations and other threatening, abusive, or insensitive behaviors, such as name-calling, profanity, behavior based on a person’s or group of people’s protected categories (i.e., race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, etc.) are all violations of workplace violence policies.
- Develop and practice a safety plan – Hold safety drills at least every six (6) months; ask your local police department to conduct active-shooter survival training at your organization; offer self-defense classes for employees; encourage employees that if they see something, no matter how seemingly insignificant it may appear. That simple action could be the difference between life and death.
- Assess the security of your building – Make certain that your building is not vulnerable to unauthorized entry. Disable all badge, computer, and security access of former employees.
- Have full-time security or police on-site. Immediately inform security when an employee no longer works for the organization. Emphasize to employees how important it is for them to give access to people without badges, even if they know them and think its ok to let them in.
- Foster an environment of respect and value – Discourage and address verbal confrontations, threats, ostracizing co-workers, lack of respect for other team members’ contributions/ideas, etc. Do not ignore this type of behavior. They are just the types of workplace situations that can spur workplace violence. Managers and human resources professionals should also be well-trained in how to administer disciplinary actions, including involuntary terminations, in a respectful, non-adversarial manner which leaves the employee’s dignity in-tact.
- Conduct pre-employment background and drug checks – Employers sometimes choose to not spend the extra money to conduct these checks, but they can uncover past behavior that may raise a red flag regarding their suitability for work in the organization.
- Update training – How quickly we sometimes forget, so it is important to update employees on the training at least yearly to keep it somewhat fresh in their minds. Training updates also present the opportunity for employees and management to assess what has gone well with the workplace violence prevention program and where there may be room for improvement. Last, but not least, annual updates help to ensure that newer team members are brought up to speed as well.
- Offer Stress Management resources for employees – This can be done through your organization’s well-being program and/or Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Employees are often dealing with life situations that can easily affect their work life. So, taking an interest in helping them to deal with stress in a healthy manner could prove to be a win-win for all.
I challenge those of you reading this post to return to your respective workplaces and familiarize your selves with your employer’s Anti-bullying and Workplace Violence Prevention Policy and Program. If your employer does not have one, see if you can form a team to work together to write one and submit it to management. Learn your employer’s safety plan and create one if there is none. Seek management’s support to form a safety committee and to enlist the expertise and assistance of your local law enforcement to provide active shooter survival training, then start conducting drills.
Prayerfully, none of you will ever have to experience a workplace violence incident, but the preparation will be well-worth the effort. Here’s to all of us having safe work environments.
Image Credit: i-Sight.com
