How Can You Help Prevent a Workplace Violence Incidence?

OSHA has issued new enforcement procedures to its field offices on investigating violence in the workplace. In this procedural document, OSHA defines violence, indicates high-risk individuals, lists preventative controls and provides advice to employers. Some of the guidance from OSHA is straight forward, such as advising companies to immediately contact their attorney following any act of violence. Some industries are more prone to violent incidents because of the stress-related job or valuable goods sold. An effective workplace violence preventative program starts with employee screening and contains a tough workplace violence and weapons policy. It is also critical to provide training so your management and staff understand the policy.

Even if you are not in a stress-related job or sell valuable merchandise, any company can have a risk for workplace violence. This is especially true with rising anger issues being brought into the workplace from outside stress or with anger towards managers, co-workers, and clients. You cannot predict the behavior of employees, clients, employee relatives and friends. Nor can you prepare for every possible danger. But it is the employer's responsibility to have a "duty of care" to keep all individuals in the workplace safe from dangers that can be reasonably anticipated. There are potential engineering and administrative controls that a company can use to minimize or eliminate workplace violence risks. These include alarm systems, panic buttons, metal detectors, closed-circuit video monitoring and locking doors. These types of controls help to stop people bringing in weapons or entering without proper permission. But what about stress or built-up resentment? Sometimes a management style can prevent workplace violence.

I recently went to a meeting where Certified Anger Management Specialist Neca Smith discussed 5 leader's keys to managing anger in the workplace. These principles of management are:

• be decisive
• be intentional
• be realistic
• be responsible
• be prepared

These principles of management can help to alleviate stress and built-up resentment that an employee may have in the workplace. An employee can get angry for a number of reasons, but some of the top reasons are due to inadequate communication, constant changing of what a supervisor wants, feeling exploited or "used", getting unfair treatment, and not getting a supervisor's support. If you are a supervisor, you can prevent problems in the workplace by creating a team environmental where everyone is treated fairly, asked to cooperate, and supports one another. Be clear and consistent with your directions. Provide realistic deadlines with some flexibility. Walk the talk. Take action to address misconduct right away. Provide feedback. Give credit where due.

Understand that there are different types of anger: explosive, chronic, normal, and bitter. And some people can exhibit different types of anger based on their surroundings or situation. It is normal for a person to exhibit a bit of anger here and there. But it should not last nor should it be frequent. There are signs you can look for to indicate that an employee may be under too much stress or may have built-up resentment that could create an explosive incident, bitter attack, or other violent act. These signs include lack of cooperation, inadequate communication, not following through with directions, not adhering to policy, or appearing unmotivated. Some of these signs can be normal every once in a while, but you will want to take note should an employee have signs that are abnormal or growing longer or more frequent.

Your company might have a crisis management team that is trained to handle potential violent situations. If you believe there may be a potential risk due to anger in the workplace, refer to your company's workplace violence policy immediately to determine what steps you need to take. Get help by contacting your crisis management team, human resources, safety manager, or other responsible point of contact as soon as you recognize the potential workplace violence risk.

Why Do Some People Make Bad Decisions Regarding Safety?

When it comes to safety in the workplace, supervisors, human resource directors, and others who regularly manage employees often have their hands full trying to do their main job functions while also adding emphasis in safety. Training is done. But still, there are times when employees do 'dumb' things that can cause injuries or fatalities. To increase awareness in safety, it is good to remind employees of safety issues regularly. But how can you do this without beating a dead horse? Perhaps your basic training is becoming redundant. Maybe you are turning into a nag with your continuous reminders.  Or maybe you have overly discussed a problem that arose after an incident. There comes a time when you may have brought up a topic enough, even though not everyone had been at the meetings or read the memo.


At some point, you may need to change your tactic on safety awareness. What can be done to prevent future incidents? One thing you can do is consider giving different examples of incidents that can be found in your industry, even if you have never had that incident in your facility. Understand why employees do what they do so you can properly train and motivate them to make the right decisions regarding safety. Keep in mind that there may be an underlying problem that is causing employees to do 'dumb' things. Here are 10 possible underlying reasons with examples for why an employee might do something 'dumb' regarding safety:



1. Pressure to perform - getting a task done now to meet a deadline or production goal instead of taking the time to replace or fix a part

2. Interruptions or distractions - not being able to use appropriate caution because your too upset with family issues or concerned about a friend

3. Poor situational awareness - not having full view of a potentially dangerous activity that you are monitoring

4. Making assumptions - relying too much on engineering controls that have not been properly maintained or are old

5. Poor perspective or objectivity - making a judgment based on visual appearance instead of checking the expiration or measuring wear on equipment

6. Ego or overconfidence - "I know what I am doing and I am not going to let something go wrong"

7. Complacency - "this is how I've always done it and there has never been a problem"

8. Lack of a moral compass - causing an employee to rely on their common sense, which is then thrown out the window when there is a shortcut

9. Improper or inadequate training - needing an employee to operate equipment because they have seen it used and you are short-handed, "it's just this one time"

10. Following the leader - "He doesn't wear the PPE in this area so I don't have to wear it either"



The problem may be that when an employee is doing any of these, they either don't realize they are doing it, or they don't think they will get in trouble from it. Therefore, something else you can do is open your safety meetings up with more interaction by asking employees "what would you do in this situation?" This helps the employee to think about themselves in the situation, preparing them before an incident can occur. As a safety manager, human resources director, or other supervisor, do you see any of the above problems in your company? What other examples can you give your employees that can help prevent incidents?