There has been a relative explosion of research and articles on Workplace Violence throughout the world within the past ten years (particularly in the past five years). In 2002, the International Labor Organization found that ‘‘violence or harassment at work is being converted into a worldwide problem which crosses work, and professional group, frontiers.’’ A 2010 poll by Reuters/IPSOS found that worldwide, 7% of workers had experienced actual physical assault - in a survey that reportedly only looked at assaults ...

  In our upcoming December edition of our newsletter, we conclude our series on “The 5 Most Common Mistakes and Oversights” that lead to Workplace Violence, with what we consider as the 5th and final most common mistake: The Lack of Employees’ Support and Participation.  Your organization may have a well-written policy, a well-trained Threat Assessment Team, a committed Leadership Team, and a well designed response program in place, but it is all relatively worthless if your employees are not on board and actively participating ...

In our most recent newsletter (September, 2011), we discussed what we have identified as the 4th most common mistake leading to Workplace Violence. This involves the very human tendency to proceed prematurely when taking employment action against an identified high-risk employee. Terminating someone’s employment is of course never an easy task for any manager.  But there are certain employees who raise special concerns, beyond the ordinary – concerns that this employee will react in an inappropriate, rageful or retaliatory matter – ...

Canadian Workplace Violence Legislation Ontario became the seventh province in Canada to enact significant Workplace Violence legislation, when it passed Bill 168, which went into effect approximately one year ago. Canada’s various provinces have acted to go beyond Federal legislation to place liability squarely on the employer for failure to properly mitigate and investigate incidents of workplace violence. This is relevant not only for our clients with Canadian facilities, but also because we believe this represents a trend that will be witnessed ...

Workplace Violence Mistake #3 Our recent newsletter discussed #3 of what we have identified as the “5 Most Common Mistakes” that lead to Workplace Violence. Whenever an unprepared organization is asked what they would do in the face of a potentially violent  or high-risk incident, a common response is “well, we’ll just call the police”, or maybe, “we’ll just refer him to the EAP program.” At the basis of this is sometimes the belief that managing Workplace Violence is solely a “security ...

 In our latest newsletter, we continued with the 2nd in our list of The Five Most Common Mistakes and Oversights That Lead To Workplace Violence: Managers Not Attending to Aberrant Behavior. Many of the more well-known incidences involving workplace violence have included observations by co-workers or managers that the individual had began coming into work disheveled, dressed inappropriately, or engaging in inappropriate social behavior, sometimes as minor as being irritable or reclusive toward others.   An important part of any kind of workplace ...

CRA is in the process of developing a comprehensive one-day workshop on the subject of “Preventing and Managing Workplace Violence and Other High-Risk Behaviors”. This training will be for human resource professionals, attorneys, security professionals, and all managers and supervisors who are involved in the decision-making process for their organization in this area of concern, and will feature several guest speakers from various specialties. Our first workshop will occur Atlanta, GA on May 26th , and will take place in ...

After years of delivering presentations and writing on the prevention of Workplace Violence, and after analyzing the various events that have been reported in the media, I have narrowed down my list of "The Most Common Mistakes That Lead To Workplace Violence" down to five general categories:   1. Overuse of Denial, Delays, and Avoidance 2. Managers Not Attending to Aberrant Behaviors 3. Not Having a Threat Response Plan and Team in Place 4. Acting Too Hastily (Not Preparing for Critical Events) 5.  Lack of Employee Support ...

In the 2007 Virginia Tech Review Panel’s report, there was a statement that rings true for anyone who is experienced in the area of workplace violence: “, no one had all the information and no one connected the dots."  In our newsletter this month, we discuss the importance of employee training programs as a critical element of any successful Workplace Violence Primary Prevention Program. The training process is especially critical in this area, in that it has to counteract the very human ...

I recently was asked by a client to review the recently mandated amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act that recently went into effect in Ontario, Canada, and how the new legislation could affect their facilities there. The reason I am addressing this issue at all is not because of Ontario’s specific legislation, but rather that may be a good representation of what’s to come for other governments within and outside the United States regarding this particular issue.    There ...