- Statements showing interest, approval or sympathy with perpetrators on incidents of workplace violence
- Statements of desperation and thinking of suicide
- Direct or veiled threats
- Substance abuse
- Extreme changes in usual behaviors
Once you have noticed a subordinate, co-worker, or customer showing any of the above signs, the following steps should be taken:
- If a co-worker, notify the employee's supervisor immediately about observations
- If it is a customer, notify supervisor immediately
- If it is a subordinate, then evaluate the situation by knowing the cause of employee's problems
- If it is a supervisor, inform that person's manager
It is very important to respond suitably to the situation. Managers should discuss the situation with expert resource staff to be able to determine how to manage the situation well.
E. SECOND PHASE: DURING -IMMEDIATE RESPONSE
Implement emergency plans and response procedures developed for particular situations and take action to contain violent incidents if and when they occur.
3. IMMEDIATE RESPONSE
Where it is not possible to completely remove risks of violence or threatening
behavior, the management plan should include response procedures to be done when violent incidents arise to minimize harmful effects.
Procedures should be created to deal with particular situations such as:
- Armed hold-ups
- Physical violence
- Verbal threats
- Responding to alarms
The procedures should address the following questions:
- How do workers seek assistance?
- If the area needs to be cleared of people, under what circumstances and how is this done?
- How should workers respond to an aggressor's request?
- What observations should workers make?
- What steps need to be taken following the incident?
When a violent incident occurs in a workplace, there should be a well coordinated response brought about by a plan and proper training of employees.
Emergency Management
The emergency planning for workplace violence should aim to:
- Decrease the degree of risk to lives, property and the environment
- Manage any incident and lessen its impact on the workplace, and
- Use as the basis for the training for people involved in any emergency at the workplace
Worker Assistance Programs
Worker assistance forms part of the immediate response and recovery phase to lessen the effects of trauma.
Workers should know the authority in charge of violent incidents.
It should provide swift professional counseling and support.
General arrangements such as providing a safe place to retreat to, controlling media access to
the workers, communicating with families and arranging transport home are also vital to lessen pressure on workers.
F. THIRD PHASE: AFTER - RECOVERY AND REVIEW
This phase is necessary to restore the work processes, return things to normal as soon as possible and provide support and counseling to workers to minimize the impact of the incident. In this phase, review violent incidents to identify areas in need of improvement should take place.
Recovery is the phase where reorganization and reconstruction occurs. There is resumption of normal operations after a violent incident occurred.
Steps should be taken to make the workplace safe. First aid and medical assistance
Should be arranged and the support for concerned workers be provided.
Establishing control in the workplace.
The recovery phase should focus on workers who return to daily routines as quickly as possible after the violent incident. In this phase, agreed plans should be immediately and efficiently implemented to minimize risks of long-term hazardous effects.
The following actions are necessary part of the phase:
- Give clear information to all workers
- Provide continuous professional counseling and support services for workers and families
- Give workers time to recover, but encourage them to return to work as part of the
recovery process.
- Provide legal advice and workers compensation arrangements
- Investigate the matter and evaluate safety management to lessen the risk of injury or harm in the future
SAMPLE WORKPLACE VIOLENCE CHECKLIST
This checklist can be used as a guide to aid in determining potentially violent situations and to review and improve safety procedures. Tick the appropriate response.
A response in a shaded box indicates that the issue should be assessed and controlled.
PART A: Hazard identification checklist
1. The Work Environment
- Are money/valuables/drugs kept at the workplace? Yes No
- Does the workplace provide a customer or client service? Yes No
- Do staff work alone or at night? Yes No
- Are violent incidents fairly common in your industry or area? Yes No
- Is it easy to enter the workplace unnoticed? Yes No
- Does the workplace have:
- Low lighting or dark areas? Yes No
- Irritating or high noise levels? Yes No
- Inadequate space for staff and clients/customers? Yes No
- Inadequate barriers between staff and clients? Yes No
- Furnishings or equipment that could be used as weapons? Yes No
2. Clients/customers
- Are customers or clients likely to become angry or disgruntled? Yes No
- Are clients likely to be affected by drugs or alcohol? Yes No
- Are clients/patients likely to suffer from mental illness? Yes No
- Do inexperienced workers deal with potentially difficult clients? Yes No
- Are procedures available for referring clients to other services for Yes No
- psychiatric, drug, alcohol and behavioral reasons?
- Are clients made aware of what is expected of them
regarding their conduct at the workplace? Yes No
