Preventing workplace violence: four must-have HR measures

Email Address

Close

Dear HR Executive,

Every reasonable employer wants to keep employees safe from workplace violence. But does your organization recognize the key part HR should play in the effort to minimize this disruptive and dangerous problem?

Maybe not.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, fewer than 30% of American workplaces have a violence prevention policy in place. And policy, as a rule, is squarely an HR responsibility.

Of course, HR won’t be the only player in a violence prevention effort. You’ll likely be teaming with Security, Facilities Management and/or Safety. The degree of involvement of each function will depend, in part, on the kind of business you’re in.

HR’s fourfold role

HR’s role is fourfold, according to a violence prevention method elaborated by Melissa Fleischer, an employment lawyer and HR consultant.

She calls it PETSPD, for Policy, Emergency planning, Training of employees, Safe-workplace measures and Progressive Discipline.

HR has a significant role in steps 1, 3, 4, and 5. (Somebody else is likely to honcho emergency planning, step 2.)

Let’s look at each of these in turn:

Policy

The first task of a workplace violence policy is to define the term. OSHA, under whose general duty clause employers must provide a safe workplace, recommends including the following in your definition:

• verbal harassment (oral or written)
• threats
• physical and sexual attacks
• murder
• arson, and
• sabotage.

The policy should be inclusive, prohibiting violence by or against employees, customers, clients/patients, and visitors – like friends or family of an employee.

And it should cover not only the workplace itself, but also parking lots, field locations, clients’ homes (where applicable) and travel to and from work assignments.

Key: An effective policy must require that employees report any violence, and direct them to the proper people to make their report. The policy should also bar any retaliation against someone who does report violence.

Training

Insofar as training lies in HR’s domain, you’ll want to instruct both managers and employees about the policy and its reporting provisions.

It’s also a good idea to train on the following topics:

1. the economic impact of violence on your organization and others, and
2. the warning signs that someone – within the organization or from outside – may be on the verge of violence. Among these signs are:
   
   • an abnormally confrontational attitude
   • paranoia – “everybody’s out to get me.”
   • excessive profanity/obscene language
   • repeated angry outbursts
   • bragging to co-workers about guns or other dangerous weapons
   • fantasizing about attacking someone
   • sudden withdrawal from social contact
   • physical manifestations of substance abuse
   • frequent absenteeism, and
   • radical changes in appearance or hygiene.

Safe-workplace measures

Some of these safety measures have more to do with Facilities Management than HR – such physical modifications as lighting, locks or barriers.

But HR is also involved in this step, by doing the right pre-employment homework and making sure employees go through exit interviews.

1. Pre-employment musts include background and reference checks, with special attention to whether the applicant has ever been fired or disciplined for workplace violence.
2. Exit interviews should assess how any terminated employee feels. Unusual hostility is an obvious warning sign. Less obvious may be the risk posed by someone who has resigned. If the person has quit out of frustration and resentment, this could presage violence later. Exit interviews can do double duty, as the interviewer reclaims work ID, keys, access cards and the like.

Progressive discipline

The policy you’ve drafted should make violence punishable by discipline up to and including termination. Applying the policy properly is key.

Progressive discipline may be appropriate where the violence, as broadly defined, hasn’t resulted in actual physical harm – in the case of verbal harassment, for instance.

But don’t hesitate to move immediately to termination when an employee has caused physical or material damage, or poses an immediate threat of such damage. 

Dave Clemens

Editor-in-Chief

Dave Clemens
Editor in Chief
HR Rapid Learning Center

UNLIMITED-ACCESS FREE TRIAL -- RAPID E-LEARNING LIBRARY FOR COMPLIANCE, LEADERSHIPSHIP AND HR: Finally, concise, fast-paced online training that your people will actually watch? Our modules, called Quick Takes, are just six to 10 minutes long. Quick Takes are an amazingly effective and affordable way to train yourself, your HR staff and your managers and supervisors? Sign up for a risk-free trial to the HR Rapid Learning Center. Want to see what it's about before you sign up for a trial? Check out just one program from our huge library of content. It's an eight-minute "Quick Take" training module called "Why 80% of Training Doesn't Stick."

Comments

[Ruben]

employee is assaulted by another employee. Employee who assaulted was terminated. The victim employee is still working she pressed charges. She has a court date requiring her to miss work. Is the employer responsible to pay her wages for the lost day?