Procedures for Violence in the Workplace

26 Mar Procedures for Violence in the Workplace

Neither clients nor employees would be excited to be at a business whose premises exposes them to violence, harassment, or abuse. Fear of workplace violence has progressively become a source of concern for business owners.

With reports showing that there were 688,000 occurrences of violence in the workplace, any business that does not take proactive measures to prevent it is sitting on a powder keg.

What is Workplace Violence?

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), workplace violence involves an incident in which a person is abused, threatened, or assaulted in the circumstances relating to their work.

Procedures for Handling Violence in the Workplace

Identify Potential Triggers

Humans are creatures of reason and emotions. Therefore, it is possible to pick out situations that can trigger violence or expose your business to it and create a procedure to prevent or address it whenever it occurs.

Businesses like retail stores that work directly with cash are more prone to violence. You can combat this by reinforcing your windows, doors, and gates. Service businesses are equally at risk, including hospitals, bars, restaurants, and hotels.

However, workplace violence is not restricted to external threats. Stressful situations within the company can bring out aggressive behavior from your staff and clients. These can include outbursts from volatile employees, reactions to termination, etc. Being aware of potential trigger points in your workplace helps you to get ahead of violence and threats.

Create a Zero-Tolerance to Violence Policy

Your staff and clients must understand your stance against violence. Your anti-violence policy should be documented in clear words and posted around the walls of your company.

Your posters should contain consequences for employees who break the zero-violence policy. This helps to build a culture of tolerance, instill positive values, and dissuade employees from violent acts. 

You should train and educate your staff to recognize behaviors that qualify as workplace violence. Then develop a proper reporting system, where employees can inform the management if they ever face violence at work, without fear of retribution or isolation. The management should emphasize confidentiality in the reporting process to encourage employees to use these channels confidently. 

Develop a Create a Process for Engaging Tense Situations

When things do get out of hand, you should have a process in place that can manage violence and prevent it from escalating. A good place to start is by training managers on de-escalation techniques like empathetic listening to help them assuage aggrieved employees or customers.

A better option would be to add trained security officers to your company. These officers would not only dissuade violence by their mere presence but they will be properly equipped to handle threats and defuse violent situations.

Security guards also contribute to your overall customer service experience. They help customers navigate your building and answer questions, reducing the occurrence of a frustrated or aggressive customer.

Since security officers are often posted at points of contact with everyone going in and out of the building, they can better assess threats and prevent violence from ever-escalating. 

Use Security Systems

Security systems help to prevent and arrest violence in a workplace significantly. They are a deterrent to threats and violence as perpetrators fear the repercussions of being caught in the act. They also help increase your security process’s reach by more grounds.

Security systems start from proper lightning to illuminate any crevice and help to identify violent incidents at any time in the day. 

Alarm and surveillance systems are more expensive but very effective in curtailing violence in the workspace. Installing CCTV cameras is almost a requirement for any modern business. You can review events when you get violent or abusive behavior reports for better investigation and more accurate judgments. 

Author: t6admin