WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AWARENESS

Several tragic events and studies were analyzed, defining a spectrum of behaviors associated with workplace violence that threaten the physical, psychological, and emotional well-being of employees in the workplace. The spectrum also includes a wide range of perpetrators of such conduct including co-workers, supervisors, customers, clients, and those who may not have a direct affiliation with the organization but seek to do harm motivated by an ideology. While discrimination and harassment may be the most common forms of abusive conduct employers recognize and set policies to expressly prohibit, other forms of inappropriate behaviors exist that employees should be protected from or at a minimum employers should take proactive measures to discourage or prevent.

Incidents involving violent encounters in the workplace are on the rise throughout the United States (FBI 2017-2021 reports). In many cases, the attacker has no method or pattern of their selection of victims which can make the situation unpredictable while rapidly evolving. The time to plan for a violent encounter within your organization does not start when the incident is occurring. By developing a higher sense of awareness, monitoring the workplace for signs of a potential attacker, collaborating with key stakeholders, and responding to an attack without delay, you create a stronger organization and dramatically increase the ability to respond effectively.