b"Workplace Violence: Reducing the Riskintimidation. Violence can take the form of bullying, as well as swearing and hurling of insults. Supervisors should watch for: By Phillip M. Perry*Unexpected and unwelcome behavioral changes. The person may Abstract: Workplace violence can cause tremendous human sufferingbecome quick to anger or engage in continuing confrontations. and impact productivity for years. Employers can be sued for damages by*Talk of suicide or self-harm. injured employees, customers and members of the public, as well as the families of deceased victims. A workplace violence prevention program*Paranoia, and a tendency to blame others for their troubles. can mitigate the risk of tragedy.*Obsession with weapons, when accompanied by any of the other A disgruntled employee opened fire at a small Philadelphia-areabehaviors listed above. business earlier this year, killing two fellow employees and injuring threeIndividuals planning violent acts may become fixated on perceived others. The tragic event added more numbers to the nationwide toll ofoccupational slights. Very often these events begin with a grievance gun-related fatalities, highlighting the ongoing reality of workplaceon the part of an employee or customer or other individual, said violence in America. Sherman. I am using the term grievance in the most general sense, as Any exposure to the news media today will reveal that incidents ofanything somebody is upset about. Thats why its so important for workplace violence occur quite frequently across the country, said Edemployers to respond to employees issues, concerns, and problems Sherman, an organizational and public safety consultant. Most businesswhen they arise. owners and employees recognize this is a significant issue and it'sBehaviors outside the workplace can also be red flags. Often, something that should be addressed.someone will post things to social media that could be important in The facts are clear: The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 392 workplaceassessing that they pose a threat to the workplace, said K. Campbell, homicides and 37,060 non-fatal workplace injuries resulting fromprincipal at Blue Glacier Security and Intelligence. These may include intentional harm in 2020 (the last year for which data are available). Andstatements about fellow employees, supervisors, or managers. That is workplace violence is the third leading cause of fatal occupationalan example of leakage, the disclosure of ill intent to a third person injuries in the United States, according to a report from the Occupationalrather than to the individual who might be the intended victim of an Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).assault. Leakage is usually an extremely reliable indicator of potential At least one state has taken steps to reduce the danger. The Californiaviolence.legislature recently passed a law requiring employers with more than tenThe above behaviors are not an exclusive list. Experts advise taking workers to create and disseminate a Workplace Violence Preventionaction anytime your gut instinct tells you something is not right. You Plan, said Kathleen Bonczyk, founder of the Workplace Violencedont want to wrongly accuse someone, said Oscar Villanueva, the Prevention Institute. The standard must include employee training,COO at TAL Global, a security-consulting and risk-management firm. along with anti-retaliation and grievance procedures. I predict we willBut people should know that if they see something that doesn't look see more jurisdictions do something similar in coming years.right to them and their gut is telling them there's an issue, they should report it to their supervisor or manager right away so it can be looked Warning signsinto. The toll in human suffering from workplace violence is incalculable. Too, businesses can be held liable for injuries. The employer has anEmployee reports obligation under the General Duty Clause of the OSHA Act to provide aWhen it comes to responding in a timely manner to warning signs, safe workplace, said Pascal Benyamini, a partner at the law firm Faegreemployees are often the first line of defense. Management cant know Drinker. OSHA and other government entities can assess fines andeverything that happens on the floor where people are working, said penalties to an employer for not having provided one.Benyamini. When employees see or hear something, they need to say Employers can also incur financial losses from workers compensationsomething so that if an incident ends up becoming a credible threat, claims and lawsuits by injured employees or customers, or by the next ofmeasures can be taken to reduce the risk. kin or family of an employee who has been killed.Litigation can beToo often, though, colleagues of a violent actor fail to speak up, either expensive, said Benyamini. And if a case gets in front of a jury thatbecause they are not aware of the significance of what they have seen, determines the employer looked the other way when there wereor they do not know the correct reporting procedures. warning signs of a pending violent act, a company can get hit withPlanning and training can help. Every company should create a punitive damages.workplace violence prevention and management program, which is a Clearly, businesses would be wise to take action to mitigate risk whenset of policies and procedures that tell employees how to report the warning signs of a pending violent act first appear. Those signs oftentroubling incidents they have observed, said Villanueva. This may take the form of behavioral changes that begin far in advance of aprevent an incident from occurring. serious incident. The company mentioned in the opening paragraph of this article, for example, had received prior warnings of the employeesVillanueva said the program should include a zero-tolerance policy, threats toward colleagues. calling for the employer to take appropriate action when a violent act The pathway to violence is typically a gradual one, said Bonczyk. Anoccurs. If someone makes a verbal threat, for example, but there is no individual may begin by coming in to work late every day. That mayphysical contact or further issues, the penalty may be a suspension, or a proceed to snapping at coworkers or customers. Then they may beginletter of warning, or a reassignment. At the other extreme, an bullying people. Later their performance takes a dive. Then thingsaggressor who beats up a fellow employee on the workroom floor may accelerate to threats of violence, and then ultimately violence.well be terminated.Many early warning signs are considered acts of violence in themselves by OSHA. These include verbal or written threats, harassment, and intimidation. Violence can take the form of bullying, as well as swearing(continues on page 8) 5"