DEFUSE THE SITUATION

Use policies, strategy to keep the workplace safe

The statistics are so alarming. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “There were 500 workplace homicides in 2016, an increase of 83 cases from 2015.”

AlertFind.com, which builds emergency notification systems for companies, notes: “It is estimated that 25% of workplace violence goes unreported.”

But you don’t need statistics to tell you that, like the rest of America, the workplace has gotten a lot more dangerous. The question really is, what, if anything, can you do to keep your business safe, from violence generally and gun violence specifically?

As it turns out, a lot.

The essence of any gun-violence safety program is twofold: Owners and management must implement proper procedures and policies, and employees must be taught how to spot and report trouble. And it is not just fellow workers with access to guns that are the problem. Many workplace mass shootings are the result of disgruntled vendors, customers and even spouses.

According to a story in U.S. News & World Report, Northeastern University criminologist James Alan Fox says that “most of the time there are all sorts of signs of what the grievances were.” These include:

❚ Anger at the boss.

❚ Feeling mistreated. ❚ Escalating workplace disagreements.

Here’s what management can do, according to NBC News:

Institute policies

Policies regarding workplace violence prevention and guns in the workplace should be introduced. Background checks on all new hires (and existing employees) should be conducted.

Institute ALICE or similar training

Employees should be taught how to spot troubled co-workers and what to do in an active shooter situation. One such training is called ALICE, which stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate.

According to the Alice Institute, “ALICE Training provides you and your employees with strategic response protocols that are designed to help counter violent actions. (It) increases the chances of survival for your employees in addition to protecting your brand reputation ...”

Communicate

A companywide meeting to discuss the uncomfortable issue of workplace violence, how to spot troubled co-workers, and how to properly respond helps the team not only feel safe, but be safer.

Ask

Either at this meeting, or in one-onone meetings, or even via survey, ask your team about workplace safety. Do they feel safe? Are there people that management should know about? Do they have any safety suggestions?

And here’s what employees can do:

Know the warning signs

Employees should be made aware of how to spot co-workers who are risky: Those who are under extra stress, who are emotionally intense or absent, who are showing signs of increased conflict with co-workers or vendors, and/or who have a history of aggression.

Report

Reporting seemingly risky co-workers must be encouraged, and once someone has acted in such a way that he or she causes someone on the team to report, company management must act.

Similarly, employees should let management know whether they are dealing with a volatile person outside of the office so that that person’s name and picture can be circulated if necessary.

When confronted with employees, vendors, spouses and others who may be on the edge, some employers bring in psychologists or workplace safety experts to help assess, and handle, the situation.

The good news is that volatile situations, if noticed and acted upon soon enough, need not escalate to the point of workplace violence. Experts agree that listening, compassion, counseling, and assistance can go a long way to defusing difficult work situations.