Violence Prevention: Work Place Planning Principles

The FBI suggest that prevention and/or management of work place violence begins with having a plan of prepared policies, practices and structures in place to spot and defuse potential dangers before violence develops.

Important principles in forming an effective work place violence strategy include:

? There must be support from the top. If a company's senior executives are not truly committed to a prevention program, it is unlikely to be effectively implemented.

? There is no one-size-fits-all strategy. Effective plans share a number of features, but a good plan must be tailored to the needs, resources, and circumstances of a particular work force.

? A plan should be proactive, not reactive.

? A plan should take into account the workplace culture; work atmosphere, relationships, traditional management styles, etc.

The following workplace elements may foster a toxic climate and should be called to the attention of top executives for remedial action: intolerance, bullying or intimidation, lack of trust among workers, high levels of stress, frustration and anger; poor communication, inconsistent discipline and erratic enforcement of company policies.

? Planning for and responding to workplace violence calls for expertise from a number of perspectives. A workplace prevention plan will be most effective if it is based on multidisciplinary team approach.

? Managers should take an active role in communicating the workplace violence policy to employees. They must be alert to warning signs, the violence prevention plan and response and must seek advice and assistance when there are indications of a problem.

? Practice your plan! No matter how thorough or well-conceived, preparation won't do any good if an emergency happens and no one remembers or carries out what was planned. Training exercises must include senior executives who will be making decisions in a real incident. Exercises must be followed by careful, clear-eyed evaluation and changes to fix whatever weaknesses have been revealed.

? Re-evaluate, rethink, and revise. Policies and practices should not be set in concrete. Personnel, work environments, business conditions and society all change and evolve and prevention must change and evolve with them.

Components of Workplace Violence Prevention can include the following:

? A statement of the employer's no threats and violence policy and complementary policies such as those regulating harassment and drug and alcohol abuse.

? A physical security survey and assessment of premises

? Procedures for addressing threats and threatening behavior

? Designation and training of an incident response team.

? Access to outside resources, such as threat assessment professionals.

? Training of different management and employee groups.

? Crisis responses measures.

? Consistently monitor behavioral standards and applicable disciplinary procedures.

Betty Jo Sheley, http://www.showlinehomesecurity.com Owner Security Products website for Home and Personal Protection. Author participated in Mayoral Conflict Resolution Institute, Community Think Tank Studies. Advise Author of article reprint including my link.