Preventing workplace violence

Recognize the signs before it happens

By Alvin M. Hattal

(Published in My Business magazine/e-zine)

It’s not only in the post office. Workplace violence involving employees erupts every day throughout the business world, according to the National Institute of Safety & Health, which reports that:

·        The most dangerous place to be in America is in the workplace.

·        Workplace homicide is the fastest-growing category of murder in the U.S.        

·        Homicide is the leading cause of workplace death for women, and the second leading cause for men.

·        There are more than one million victims of workplace violence every year.

Fortunately, violence can often be anticipated, and there are proven ways to prevent those costly encounters. But that requires the ability to understand its causes. Threats of violence, for example, commonly occur before the discharge of an employee or a mass layoff for economic reasons.

One expert on the subject, Richard Denenberg, co-director of Workplace Solutions, a nonprofit organization that creates model violence-prevention programs, says, “Employee violence is always the result of the interaction of violence-prone individuals and a system that provokes them [and allows them to act on their inclinations].

“Unfortunately, there is a tendency to focus on only one of these elements: the employee.”

According to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, employees have long been only one of three types who cause workplace violence. The other two, strangers and clients, account for 90 percent of all such incidents. In recent years a fourth cause has emerged: relatives of the employee(s) involved.

Besides focusing on the causes of violent behavior, businesses need to ask how well it deals with the symptoms of stress and how prepared it is to respond to signs of potential trouble, whatever the cause.

In his book, “The Violence-Prone Workplace,” Denenberg notes that “traditional ways of handling labor relations may have to be jettisoned.” Aside from resorting to outside help such as conflict-resolution agencies, which exist in many communities throughout the country, he says, business would be wise to establish a prevention program that includes the following steps:

·        Form a crisis-response team representing all stakeholders.

·        Construct a violence-risk profile for the workplace.

·        Develop policies and procedures to guide the team.

·        Train team members and supervisory staff.

·        Arrange for easy, nonpunitive access to medical and mental-health expertise.

·        Promulgate clear commonsense disciplinary rules.

Strategies to prevent workplace violence via conflict resolution include mediation, facilitated negotiation, mutual problem solving, and arbitration. The Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service (fmcs.gov) conducts courses on dealing with these problems. The aim is to build consensus among workplace stakeholders to help change the business from crisis-prone to crisis-prepared.

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