Get Your Employees Trained Against Workplace Violence

 Workplace violence is any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the worksite. It ranges from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and even homicide. It can affect and involve employees, clients, customers, and visitors. However it manifests itself, workplace violence is a major concern for employers and employees nationwide.

All your employees should go through employee training to know the potential security hazards at your facility and the means to protect themselves and their coworkers. The training approach for employees should include your workplace violence and prevention program and the procedures and practices to follow in a violent incident.

Work violence has been identified as four types. Therefore, your workplace violence employee training program should address each type:

●  Type 1 violence refers to violence committed by someone who has no legitimate business at the worksite.

●  Type 2 violence refers to violence toward employees by someone such as customers, clients, patients, or visitors who are legitimately at the worksite.

●  Type 3 violence refers to violence against an employee by a present or former employee.

●  Type 4 violence refers to someone who does not work there but has a personal relationship with an employee.

Eight Components For Initial Employees Training Against Workplace Violence

Your workplace violence training approach for employee programs should include initial training, annual refresher training, and training for specific reasons.

Your initial workplace violence training should be composed of at least these eight components:

1.    An explanation of your workplace violence prevention plan, including hazard identification and evaluation procedures, general and personal safety measures you have already implemented, how the employee may communicate concerns about workplace violence without fear of reprisal, how you will address workplace violence incidents, and how the employee can participate in reviewing and revising the Plan.

2.    How to recognize the potential for violence, including factors that contribute to the escalation of violence, how to counteract them, and when and how to seek assistance to prevent or respond to violence.

3.    Strategies to avoid physical harm.

4.    How to recognize alerts, alarms, or other warnings about emergency conditions such as mass casualty threats and how to use identified escape routes or locations for sheltering, as applicable.

5.    The role of private security personnel you may employ.

6.    How to report violent incidents to law enforcement.

7.    Any resources available to employees for coping with incidents of violence, including, but not limited to, critical incident stress debriefing or employee assistance programs.

8.    An opportunity for interactive questions and answers about your workplace violence prevention plan.

Your workplace violence employee training program should include additional training when new equipment or work practices are introduced at your facility or when a new or previously unrecognized workplace violence hazard has been identified.

Annual refresher training approaches for employees should be provided for employees whose job responsibilities, such as responding to alarms, may put them in the position of being confronted by violence.

It's not enough to have a plan for how to handle workplace violence. It would be best if you communicated that plan and each of these strategies to your employees. "Training is a key factor in an effective workplace security plan."