2. TRAINING OBJECTIVES
• Participants will understand the importance of taking
responsibility for own safety, first and foremost, through
awareness and planning; second, how this can influence
effectiveness of assistance to others in need.
• Participants will become familiar with Display Pack emergency
communication procedures and expectations for responding in
crisis situations.
• Participants will work through case scenarios applying
communication protocols and safety tips to gain an
understanding and become comfortable with recommended
safety practices.

3. WHO IS THE LONE WORKER?
• Self-employed
• Work away from business’ base
• Work outside normal business hours
• Mobile workers
• Work from home
• Staffed with one worker
Anybody who works alone is classified as a lone worker.

4. SAFETY CONCERNS
• Security in customer service areas
• Controlling restricted areas
• Working irregular hours
• Robbery
• Suspicious mail
• Bomb threats
• Domestic violence
• Irate or aggressive customers, vendors

5. EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITIES
• Ensure lone workers have no medical conditions which can
make them unsuitable for working alone
• Be aware that some tasks may be too difficult or dangerous to
be carried out alone
• Provide some level of supervision
• Put contact procedures in place for emergencies so the alarm
can be raised if needed
• Make provisions for lone workers who may be faced with
workplace violence
• Check whether there are specific legal requirements

6. EMPLOYEE RESPONSIBILITIES
• Take reasonable care to look after your own health and safety
• Safeguard the health and safety of other people affected by
your work
• Co-operate with your employer’s health and safety
procedures DISPLAY PACK’S POLICY ON SAFETY
• Use tools and other equipment properly, in accordance with
relevant safety instructions and any training provided
• Not misuse equipment provided for health and safety
• Report any accidents and incidences that occur
• Report any safety concerns your may have

7. SAFETY AND INCIDENT PREVENTION TOOLBOX
• Situational Awareness
• Intuition
• Verbal De-escalation Skills
• Environmental Controls
• Communication System
• Action Checklists

8. AWARENESS AND INTUITION
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
 Be aware of your surroundings and the activity around you
 Do not allow yourself to become distracted
 Have a plan in mind if you need to react quickly
 Play the “What If” game
TRUST YOUR INTUITION
 Pay attention to your instincts
 Error on the safe side
 Report and document your concerns

9. VERBAL DE-ESCALATION BASICS
• Try to appear calm an self-assured
• Use a modulated tone of voice
• Do not be defensive
• Be aware of back-up resources
• Be very respectful and treat person with dignity
• Never turn your back for any reason
• Always be at the same eye level
• Allow extra space between you and the person
• Do not maintain constant eye contact

10. VERBAL DE-ESCALATION BASICS CONT….
• Do not point or shake your finger
• Do not smile
• Do not touch
• Keep hands out of pockets and ready to defend
• Do not argue or try to convince
• Don’t be judgmental
• Suggest alternatives or give choices
If techniques aren’t working, end the conversation.

11. ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS
• Arrange office furniture and partitions so that employees in
daily contact with the public are surrounded by “natural”
barriers.
• Establish an area nearby where employees and/or customers
can escape to if they are confronted with violent or threatening
people.
• Arrange desk close to an exit or interior doorway in case
employee should need to make a quick exit.

12. COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
• Make regular visits to a lone worker or set up a check-in
system
• Establish code words to alert coworkers and supervisors that
help is needed
• Provide a means of internal communication ( two-way
radios, panic alarms, intercoms, etc.)
• Implement a “buddy system”

13. ACTION CHECKLISTS
• Bomb Threats
• Emergency Communication
• Incident Reports
 Always keep near phones and readily accessible
 Document each and every event regardless of severity or
length of time
 Review documentation and responses after each incident to
determine effectiveness and any necessary changes in
procedures.

14. WORKPLACE SCENARIO ONE
THE BOMB THREAT
You return from lunch and notice an envelope taped to the front entrance door. The
envelope has letters cut out from magazines that spell out the word “DANGER.”
The note inside states that a bomb will detonate within your facility between 1:30
and 2:00pm. No other info is provided. You look at the clock and it is now 1:15pm.
As you ponder what to do, the phone rings, you answer and the caller identifies
himself as the individual who left the note.
WHAT DO YOU DO?

15. BOMB THREAT FACTS
• The majority of bomb threats are verbal.
• Bomb threats are used as a means of retaliation by
employees with real or fancied grievances.
• Also bomb threats in workplaces are higher when companies
are forced to reduce manning levels to cut costs, some victims
of layoffs use bomb threats as means of revenge.
• The majority of bomb threats turn out to be hoaxes.

16. WORKPLACE SCENARIO TWO
THE IRATE CUSTOMER
A gentleman in a dress suit walks into the front lobby and asks to speak with
someone immediately in regard to his account. He is pacing and seems very
agitated.
As you are asking him for more info, he slams his briefcase down and pulls a
knife out from his pocket and demands to speak with someone NOW!
WHAT DO YOU DO?

17. WORKPLACE SCENARIO THREE
THE ESTRANGED HUSBAND
A co-workers husband walks in demanding to see his wife who is in a
meeting. You explain this to the man and he refuses to leave until he sees
her.
You are aware that this couple is going through a divorce and she has filed a
Personal Protection Order against him.
WHAT DO YOU DO?

18. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN THE WORKPLACE
• Department of Justice estimated 13,000 domestic violence incidents are committed in the
workplace annually (Ehow, 2011).
• 74% of employed battered women say they were harassed by their partner while at work
(Safework, 2009).
• Women are much more likely than men to be victims of on-the-job intimate partner homicide.
Spouses, boyfriends/girlfriends and ex-boyfriends/ex-girlfriends were responsible for the on-
the-job deaths of 321 women and 38 men from 1997-2009, according to the U.S. Department
of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.3
• In 2008 relatives and other personal acquaintances committed 28 percent of all workplace
homicides in which women were victims, and just four percent of all workplace homicides in
which men were victims.4
• According to a 2006 study from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly one in four large
private industry establishments (with more than 1,000 employees) reported at least one
incidence of domestic violence, including threats and assaults, in the past year.5
• A 2005 phone survey of 1,200 full-time American employees found that 44 percent of full-time
employed adults personally experienced domestic violence's effect in their workplaces, and 21
percent identified themselves as victims of intimate partner violence.6

19. WORKPLACE SCENARIO FOUR
THE TERMINATED EMPLOYEE
Ralph was fired from ________ six months ago. He stops in to ask if Mike is
available. You call Mike’s office and he comes to the lobby area to speak with
Ralph.
As they are conversing in the lobby, Ralph pulls out a gun and threatens to kill
Mike for ruining his life.
WHAT DO YOU DO?

20. WORKPLACE SHOOTING FACTS
• 10% of work-related deaths per year are
shootings
• Shootings are 2nd highest cause of work-
related deaths
• Shootings accounted for 80% of all
homicides in 2008
• Co-workers and former co-workers
were assailants in 12% of all shootings

21. WORKPLACE SCENARIO FIVE
THE HOMELESS WOMAN
A woman dressed in torn clothing with an unkempt appearance walks into
your lobby as it begins to rain outside. You saw her across the street earlier
sitting on the sidewalk, talking to herself. She proceeds to make a bed out of
the contents in her purse and lies down in front of your desk.
When you tell her she cannot be here, she becomes irate and begins ranting
at the top of her lungs and asks you what you are going to do about it.
WHAT DO YOU DO?

22. TOP FIVE TAKE-AWAYS
1. Anticipate potential for crisis.
2. Know your company’s emergency response plan.
3. Be aware and trust your instinct.
4. Communicate with one another.
5. Have a plan in mind in case of the need for a quick response.

23. REFERENCES AND RESOURCES
Bristow & Sutor. (2011). Ensure the Safety of Lone Workers.
http://online.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/printguide?r.i=1074427325&r.11
=107385879...
Department of Homeland Security
Insurance and Services Office, Inc. (2000). Bomb Threat Management.
http://www.pmagroup.com/riskcontrol/bombthreatmanagment.pdf
Skolnik-Acker, Eva, LICSW. (2008). Verbal De-Escalation Techniques for
Defusing or Talking Down an Explosive Situation.
http://www.naswma.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=290&printp
age=-true
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

24. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE REFERENCES
3. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2010. Occupational Homicides by
Selected Characteristics, 1997-2009. Available at:
http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/work_hom.pdf
4. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2010. Workplace Shootings Fact
Sheet. Available at: http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/osar0014.htm#1
5. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2006. Survey of Workplace
Violence Prevention, 2005. Washington, DC. Available at:
http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/osnr0026.pdf
6. CAEPV National Benchmark Telephone Survey. 2005. Bloomington, IL: Corporate
Alliance to End Partner Violence. Available at:
http://www.caepv.org/getinfo/facts_stats.php?factsec=3