Workplace violence: An ounce of prevention

The incidence of violence in the workplace in the United States is all too commonplace. According to the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration, approximately two million people annually in this country are subjected to some form of violence while at work, ranging from verbal abuse to physical assault.

The majority of this violence can be attributed to strangers of the employee victims and occurs in work settings that involve a high degree of public interaction and/or money exchange activities. Some examples, among many, include health-care providers, taxicab drivers, bank tellers and cashiers in convenience stores.

However, the extent of workplace violence involving co-workers in all types of work settings, including those more traditionally though falsely considered “safe,” such as professional firms, is alarming.

Simply put, workplace violence is a clear and present danger faced by everyone who has a job and goes to work. It is not something to be ignored; no one is immune.

Furthermore, in these difficult economic times of widespread job loss and financial insecurity combined with substantial cutbacks in the availability of public services including, in particular, mental health services, the risk of anyone becoming a victim of workplace violence has increased.

Too often, it is the case that an organization must experience a significant incident of workplace violence before initiating meaningful efforts to adequately address the issue. Complacency frequently rules the day at great potential cost. And, unfortunately, internal programs to provide employees with safety and other types of training, including training to deal with workplace violence, are by many considered discretionary and subject to reduction or elimination when finances are tight.

It is, however, truly incumbent on every employer to establish clear and unwavering policies and procedures intended to address workplace violence and to take the commitment very seriously at all times, irrespective of the bottom line.

No one should have to feel unsafe while at work. Accordingly, employees need to be provided the necessary training and other tools to learn how to identify when the potential for violence presents itself, what actions to take in order to avoid or at least reduce its severity and how to deal with that violence when it does occur. Truly an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Methods to prevent workplace violence are many and varied. They depend on a range of factors including the type of service and products being provided, the nature and degree of employee contact with the public, the nature and degree of employee interaction, and the level and nature of job-related stresses, among others.

Some preventative measures that are more operational, for example, might guide employee interaction with the public to discourage public behavior that may result in violence such as crowd control measures or limits on the amount of cash kept in the register.

Other preventative measures that are more facility management and design-related, for example, might be intended to provide physical barriers for public access to employees such as after-hours door locking policies or bullet-proof glass.

These examples aside, in all cases prevention starts with employers providing their employees with a clear definition of what constitutes workplace violence, the establishment of a zero-tolerance policy toward such violence and finally a well-thought-out program designed to enforce that policy without equivocation through aggressive investigation and action to remedy.

Additionally, any successful workplace violence prevention program requires the establishment of a mechanism for employees to communicate their concerns to employers regarding safety and security without risk of reprisal and where employer response and follow through is real and meaningful.

A culture that fosters communication and truly takes on the issue of workplace violence is one that can take the actions necessary to provide a safe and secure environment for its most valuable resource, its people.

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Sherri Smith is the human resources director for the Excel group.