RISKVUE ARCHIVE | RISK BITES

How To Prevent And Respond To Workplace Violence: A Cornerstone For Your Crisis Management Plan

By William C. Irwin, MBA, CPP

As pointed out in “The Security Audit: First Line of Defense in the War on Terrorism (and Other Threats)” that appeared as a “Risk Bite” in the October 2002 issue of riskVue (read the article), the security auditing function has taken on greater importance for the sustainability of any complex organization. It has also taken on a variety of descriptive terms that all serve the same purpose. Whether it’s called a security process inspection, site survey, threat analysis or vulnerability assessment, the objectives are to (1) identify the assets to be protected, (2) prioritize the threats against those assets, (3) evaluate the susceptibility of the assets to each of those threats, and (4) determine the potential consequences of a security incident.

When “What if?” becomes “What now?”

The ultimate goal, of course, is to protect the organization’s people, property, information, and reputation, even in a worst-case scenario. When prevention measures fail, a minor incident can quickly become a major incident and then escalate into a crisis, deteriorate into a disaster and finally implode as a total catastrophe if the organization’s contingency plans and players are not prepared to immediately manage the situation (instead of the other way around).

The best way to know how well your crisis management plan will work before it’s too late to doing anything about it is with a robust security audit program. A security audit of your crisis management plan can range from checking the frequency and effectiveness of fire drills to conducting a live exercise with mock causalities to test all the emergency response systems.

If your organization does not have a well documented crisis management plan, getting started can be difficult. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s website (www.ready.gov) has a wealth of information for individuals and organizations, plus links to additional websites with more information to help prepare for and respond to a crisis. At first, it may be more productive to focus on one or two of the most likely or most damaging scenarios instead of trying to cover every conceivable threat at the same time. As noted above, one of the first objectives of any security audit is to prioritize the threats against your assets. While a horrific terrorist attack on American soil is no longer as unthinkable as it once was, there are other, more common threats that risk managers and security managers must anticipate and mitigate on a daily basis.

A Workplace Violence Template

As the third leading cause of occupational fatalities, violence in the workplace results in 11% of all on-the-job deaths (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2001) and is a contributing factor in over two million work-related injuries per year (Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 2002). A thorough security audit will address the prevention measures as well as the response procedures associated with violence by reviewing the organization’s total effort in detail.

Because every organization operates in a unique social and economic environment, there is no universal solution for reducing violence in the workplace. You may want to consider your organization’s population, culture, history, size, location, and other variables when auditing its capability to prevent and respond to violence. The following guidelines can be tailored to accommodate any organization.

1. Foster a supportive, harmonious work environment. Creating a culture of mutual respect can reduce harassment and hostility in the workplace. In such a culture, employers strive to communicate openly, give employees adequate control in their work, and provide them with support and recognition. Conflict and stress are lower when employees feel empowered to think independently and motivated to work cooperatively.
2. Train supervisors and employees to resolve conflicts. Tensions between workers can be reduced by helping them improve their skills in interpersonal communication, problem solving and conflict resolution.
3. Train supervisors to recognize signs of a troubled employee. One way to decrease the potential for workplace violence is to intervene before tensions reach a flash point. Supervisors can be trained to recognize indicators of violent behavior, such as threatening words or actions. Supervisors can also be instructed to look for signs of abuse among employees, such as frequent absence or depression.
4. Provide personal counseling through an employee assistance program. Family, marital, financial, and emotional issues can have a profound impact on employees’ performance as well as their social interactions at work. An employee assistance program (EAP) provides them with a free, easily accessible, and confidential resource for addressing personal concerns. In addition, supervisors can be trained to document and discuss work behavior and attitude problems and refer employees to the EAP for help.
5. Develop effective policies to protect employees from harassment. While companies strive to foster a culture free of harassment and discrimination, they can enforce this expectation by having concrete protocols in place to deal with infractions. The key is a written company policy that firmly denounces harassment and states unequivocally that it will not be tolerated. An enforceable policy statement will clearly define harassment, explain how complaints will be handled and stipulate the consequences.
6. Establish procedures for handling grievances. Employees should understand the company’s procedures for reporting complaints of unfair treatment, discrimination, or harassment. They should know these procedures will be followed consistently and believe that all grievances will be investigated promptly and treated confidentially.
7. Provide job counseling for employees who have been involuntarily terminated. Because a job is often closely tied to one’s identity and self-esteem, termination can be traumatic. Employee counseling and support services can help workers develop job-seeking skills, learn how to cope with life changes, and personally and financially prepare for the future. These services also help exiting employees feel that the company cares about them. It is also helpful to train supervisors to sensitively communicate layoffs and terminations.
8. Implement security programs that protect employees. Employers have a variety of methods for ensuring workers’ protection, such as security guards, access control systems, alarm systems, closed-circuit television monitors, and pre-employment background investigations. Companies that regularly audit and test their security programs can best determine if they are meeting company and employee needs.
9. Provide employee security education programs. In addition to making employees aware of company safety and security practices and personnel support services, employers can provide educational materials and seminars to improve the overall integrity of the workplace.
10. Establish and rehearse contingency plans. Every company’s crisis management plan should cover the response to a violent incident. This may include details on how to report an incident, which key managers and outside authorities will be alerted, how to preserve the crime scene, how to obtain crisis counseling and support services for affected employees, and how to maintain the well-being of the rest of the workforce after the incident has ended.

The Integrated Approach

Many security audits and crisis management plans only deal with workplace violence in a reactive way and ignore the proactive ways to address the problem. As the above guidelines demonstrate, violence prevention and response are interrelated and, therefore, should be viewed together. Other security contingency plans that could be audited in this manner include kidnap and ransom, fire or explosion, hazardous chemical spills, natural disasters, and public health scares like anthrax contamination. These and related topics will be covered in future articles. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bill Irwin is a Security Advisor for IMAC Consulting Group, LLC, based in Cleveland, OH. He has more than 35 years of experience developing, implementing and evaluating loss prevention and crisis management programs on the local, national and international levels. He has been a security director for two Fortune 500 companies and a consultant to a variety of commercial and nonprofit organizations. E-mail birwin@imacservices.com or telephone 215-340.6547.

riskVue | The webzine for risk management professionals
August 2003