The document discusses workplace violence prevention. It defines workplace violence and outlines types of violence that can occur. It then discusses factors that can contribute to violence, such as individual characteristics, environmental factors, and workplace culture. Finally, it provides strategies for preventing workplace violence, including security measures, training, policies, screening, and responding to incidents.

1. Keep Me Safe

2. The prevention of workplace violence is a natural
extension of the responsibilities of safety and health
professionals. Hazard analysis, records analysis and
tracking, trend monitoring, incident analysis, and
prevention strategies based on administrative and
engineering controls are all fundamental to both
concepts. In addition, emergency response and
employee training are key elements of both.
Consequently, occupational safety and health
professionals are well suited to add the prevention of
workplace violence to their normal duties.

3.  Violent acts, behavior, are threats that occur in the
workplace or are related to it. Such acts are harmful are
potentially harmful to people, property, or
organizational capabilities.
 A workplace my be any location either permanent or
temporary where an employee performs any work-related
duty

4.  Occupational violent crime (OVC). Intentional battery, rape
or homicide during the course of employment.
 Employee. An individual with an employment-related
relationship (present or past) with the victim of a
workplace-violence incident.
 Outsider. An individual with no relationship of any kind
with the victim of a workplace-violence incident or with
the victim’s employer.
 Employee-related outsider. An individual with some type of
personal relationship (past or present) with an employee,
but who has no work-related relationship with the
employee.
 Customer. An individual who receives products or services
from the victim of a workplace-violence incident or from
the victim’s employer.

5.  Aggravated assault

6.  Sexual assault

7.  Product tampering

8.  Sabotage

9.  Homicide

10.  Acts committed during robberies

11.  Psychological and Social Considerations
 having had a violent past;
 having had a difficult childhood due to maladjusted parents,
a stormy relationship with family and a school life marked by
failure;
 having problems with psychotropic substance abuse,
especially alcoholism;
 suffering from a serious mental illness, the symptoms of
which have neither been correctly diagnosed nor treated with
appropriate therapy;
 being in a situation which is likely to lead to violent acts
against oneself or others, such as having access to firearms.

12. Causal Interactions
 Attackers and Victims
 affected by the stress of overwork or certain light forms
of mental illness leading to misunderstanding or
misinterpretation on the part of the person who is
attacked,
 lack of experience in resolving difficult problems at
work,
 women are more likely than men to be victims of
violence but respond less aggressively; also more prone
are personality types that tend to be demonstrative,
expansive, less flexible or less displomatic, as opposed to
the kind of person who tends to be self-effacing in
difficult or delicate situations in the workplace.

13.  Work Organization and Management
 overcrowded, poorly-ventilated, dirty and noisy premise
 a lack of precision in the assignment of roles and
responsibilities,
 a poorly-distributed workload,
 too many bureaucratic procedures and a lack of decision-
making autonomy among staff or with clients,
 a centralized and depersonalized organizational culture, tied
to large companies in which the risks associated with
management are higher than in small companies,

14.  a very authoritarian management style or one allowing very
little participation, where there is too wide a gap between job
design and task performance,
 a work environment where employees and groups of
employees are isolated, encouraging mutual suspicion and
intentional disregard of various forms of workplace
discrimination,
 a lack of job security caused by precarious employment and
the whole set of deteriorating working conditions associated
with the weakening of unions, globalization and budget
cutbacks in the public service

15.  The situations which carry the highest risk of
external violence are listed as follows:
 Working alone (night-time taxi drivers, investigative
journalists and foreign correspondents, service station
employees),
 Being in contact with the public (members of the police
force, restaurant and hotel personnel and public
transportation employees: buslines, railway and subway
systems, airlines),
 Handling valuable items and money (private security
agencies and retail sales),
 Assisting people in distress and their family and friends
(homecare, social services, detoxification centres, emergency
services, psychiatric hospitals, senior citizens' homes),
 Working in education (schools in poor neighbourhoods of
large cities or in rural and outlying areas),
 Holding a job in particularly vulnerable conditions (child
slave labour in sweatshops or in the street, unskilled workers
in outlying rural areas and immigrants).

16.  The situations which carry the highest risk of
internal violence are tied to events that affect the
working conditions of employees and are listed as
follows:
 Recruitment, selection and integration of employees,
 Performance or salary appraisals,
 Applying disciplinary measures including moving staff
around, (transferring from one team to another, demoting,
suspending, firing, dismissing without notice),
 Disputes related to compensation for employment injuries,
 Exercising a right or obligation in accordance with various
labour laws,

17.  Disgruntled Employees
 Delusional Person

18.  TYPE 1: Violent acts by criminals, who have no other
connection with the workplace.

19.  A system for ensuring that employees comply with safe
and healthy work practices, comply with work
practices designed to make the workplace more secure
and do not engage in the threats or physical actions
that create a security hazard to other employees in the
workplace.
 A system for communicating with the employees about
workplace security hazard.
 Procedures for identifying workplace security hazards
including periodic inspections to identify unsafe
conditions and work practices.

20.  Procedures for investigating occupational injury or
illness arising from a workplace assault or threat of
assault.
 Procedures for correcting unsafe conditions, work
practices, including workplace security hazards and
attention to procedures for protecting employees from
physical retaliation for reporting threats.
 Training and instruction about how to recognize
workplace security hazards, measures to prevent
workplace assaults and what to do when an assault
occurs, including emergency action and post
emergency procedures.

21.  TYPE 2: Violence directed at employees by customers,
clients, patients, students, inmates, or any others for
whom an organization provides services.

22.  Controlling access into and out of the workplace and
freedom of movement within workplace.
 Placing barriers between clients and service providers.
 Escape routes
 Installation of alarm systems or panic buttons.
 Presence of security personnel.

23.  TYPE 3: Violence event consists of:
 Current or former employee
 Some other person who has a dispute with an employee
of the affected workplace (e.g., relative, partners).

24.  Provide trainings
 Monitoring and appropriately responding to such
behavior.
 Establish a clear anti-violence management policy.
 Applying the policy consistently and fairly to all
employees.

25.  Individual Factors Associated with Violence
 Record of violence.
 Membership in a hate group.
 Psychotic behavior.
 Romantic obsessions.
 Depression.
 Finger pointers.
 Unusual frustration levels
 Obsession with weapons.
 Drug dependence.

26.  Environmental Factors Associated with Violence
 Dictatorial management.
 Role ambiguity.
 Partial, inconsistent supervision.
 Unattended hostility.
 No respect for privacy.
 Insufficient training.

27.  The Workplace Culture
Companies that place the welfare of workers ahead of
even their customers have happier employees that
value their jobs and safety measures against workplace
violence. This emphasizes on communication between
management and worker, continuous training, and
team work. Make it a habit to perform a manage-
worker consultation with regards to making decisions
in the workplace, such as making settlements on
grievances through negotiation and arbitration
between labor-management committees.

28.  Training
Train managers to seriously address worker
complaints, acknowledge feelings, even when workers
may be mistaken with how they perceive situations in
the workplace. The best training for managers is to
inform workers of new policies and how these relate to
the different positions in the company. Such makes it
less likely for workers to have negative reactions about
policy changes in your organization, and promotes
healthy relationships. Training is best retained when
you repeat it regularly.

29.  Rules
Establishing rules about violence and harassment
backs up your company's education on the nature of
violence in the workplace. These rules may include
such prohibitions as: "No employee shall yell, swear,
insult, or harass another member of the company" or
define terms such as "physical abuse, including
pushing, is also prohibited." Issuing rules sets your
company's expectations on the extent of workplace
violence and harassment.

30.  Performance Reviews
Regular appraisals help establish your company's
expectations on employee performance. Appraisals
built on performance and based on what other
employees think of a particular worker is better than
single-manager appraisals (currently the norm in most
corporate cultures). Performance reviews involving
team members are carried out by maintaining the
anonymity of reviewers so that no personal grudges
build up, only an objective review.

31.  Layoff and Firing Policy
Layoffs are a situation that comes to companies reeling
in crisis, which often rouse violent reactions among
those workers facing termination. To prevent
workplace violence in reaction to layoffs or firing (as a
result of unreliability, incompetence, drunkenness,
etc.), your organization has to setup an exit program
consisting of counseling and out-placement help. Also
don't miss to acknowledge the employee's
contributions to the organization and allow each fired
worker time to bid farewell to co-workers.

32.  Pre-Employment Screening
Workplace violence is not only instigated by virulent
reactions towards policy changes in your
organizations. Many instances of workplace violence
stems from psychologically and/or emotionally
disturbed individuals who got through undetected in
the screening process. To prevent such loopholes in
the beginning part of recruitment, a pre-employment
interview that delves deep into an applicant's ability to
adapt to different workplace tensions and fit into your
organization's community should be made.

33.  Drug-and-Alcohol-Free Workplace
The widespread use and abuse of drugs and alcohol are
matters that often occur outside the control of
management. However, even when seemingly
unstoppable, your organization should have stringent
rules that deal with individuals who come to the
workplace intoxicated or who brings, shares, and
distributes drugs and alcohol.

34.  Provide safety education for employees so they know
what conduct is not acceptable, what to do if they
witness or are subjected to workplace violence, and
how to protect themselves.
 Secure the workplace. Where appropriate to the
business, install video surveillance, extra lighting, and
alarm systems and minimize access by outsiders
through identification badges, electronic keys, and
guards.
 Provide drop safes to limit the amount of cash on
hand. Keep a minimal amount of cash in registers
during evenings and latenight hours.

35.  Equip field staff with cellular phones and hand-held alarms
or noise devices, and require them to prepare a daily work
plan and keep a contact person informed of their location
throughout the day. Keep employer provided vehicles
properly maintained.
 Instruct employees not to enter any location where they
feel unsafe. Introduce a “buddy system” or provide an
escort service or police assistance in potentially dangerous
situations or at night.
 Develop policies and procedures covering visits by home
health-care providers. Address the conduct of home visits,
the presence of others in the home during visits, and the
worker’s right to refuse to provide services in a clearly
hazardous situation.

36.  Nothing can guarantee that an employee will not become a
victim of workplace violence. These steps, however, can
help reduce the odds:
 Learn how to recognize, avoid, or diffuse potentially violent
situations by attending personal safety training programs.
 Alert supervisors to any concerns about safety or security
and report all incidents immediately in writing.
 Avoid traveling alone into unfamiliar locations or situations
whenever possible.
 Carry only minimal money and required identification into
community settings.

37.  Encourage employees to report and log all incidents and threats of
workplace violence.
 Provide prompt medical evaluation and treatment after the incident.
 Report violent incidents to the local police promptly.
 Inform victims of their legal right to prosecute perpetrators.
 Discuss the circumstances of the incident with staff members.
 Encourage employees to share information about ways to avoid similar
situations in the future.
 Offer stress debriefing sessions and posttraumatic counseling services
to help workers recover from a violent incident.
 Investigate all violent incidents and threats, monitor trends in violent
incidents by type or circumstance, and institute corrective actions.
 Discuss changes in the program during regular employee meetings.

38. THANK YOU!