Insights

Does Your Staff Know How To Respond To Workplace Violence?

Workplace violence no longer affects high-risk industries like law enforcement or businesses that are often targets of robbery. Now it’s a growing concern for a variety of public and private settings, including corporate offices, schools, and hospitals.

Almost any business is at risk of violent events due to disgruntled ex-employees, angry customers, thieves, or active shooters.

The consequences of these violent incidents are often devastating – especially if the employees are ill-prepared for such events.

In the following article, we’ll highlight some of the steps your business can take to ensure that your staff knows how to respond to workplace violence.

Have A Plan In Place

In the event that workplace violence seems imminent or occurs, it’s essential that your staff immediately knows what to do to minimize risks to their safety and the safety of the non-employees in the building.

Having a well-defined and easy-to-understand plan in place is crucial to achieving this goal.

This plan should outline some of the necessary steps your employees should take during a violent incident, such as:

Calling 911 and other local authorities as soon as possible so they can respond rapidly to the emergency. To make dialing these numbers easier and quicker during emergencies, you should program these numbers in your internal phone system and recommend your employees do the same with their cell phones.
Following clearly defined and unobstructed evacuation routes to safely and quickly exit the building.
Gathering at an established meeting point that is a safe distance from the building.
Conducting a headcount of all employees at the meeting place. If any employees are missing, employees should share the missing employees names and last known location in the building with the authorities as soon as they arrive on the scene.
Locating areas identified as secure rooms where they can safety shelter in place until the incident ends.

By establishing a plan that includes these and other steps helps your staff be better prepared should workplace violence occur.

Train Your Staff

Training is also an effective tool for preparing your workplace for violent incidents.

To keep them safe and help minimize risks, your staff can receive professional training on how to recognize and respond to warning signs of workplace violence. Specific team members can be identified and trained to assume certain responsibilities during an incident such as

Safely escorting coworkers and visitors out of the building.
Notifying the authorities.
Communicating with first responders once they arrive on the scene.

Additionally, the training can also cover such topics as:

How to de-escalate a situation before it leads to violence.
How to help instill a sense of calm among staff and coworkers after a potential situation has been successfully resolved.

With proper training, your staff will feel safer and more confident when faced with these challenges.

Seek The Help And Guidance Of Professional Security Experts

Developing a response plan and training your staff to properly react to threats and incidents of workplace violence are crucial to the overall safety of everyone in your building and the immediate area.

However, trying to implement these plans and train your employees using internal personnel and resources may be a challenge for your organization. It may also not be very effective.

To ensure that your staff receive top-of-the-line training and follow emergency plans that are the most beneficial to their personal safety, your business should consider hiring a professional security consulting firm.

At Cardinal Point Security Group, we understand the importance of preparing for workplace violence. Our team of security experts can help your organization develop a comprehensive emergency plan that takes into account the specific needs of your business, your staff and your clients.

Our team can also provide training and education programs for your employees to teach them how to respond properly to a variety of workplace violence emergencies. With this training, we’ll provide you staff with the knowledge and skills required to keep your organization safe should an incident occur.

While workplace violence remains a serious concern for many businesses and industries, your organization can take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of your employees and clients. Having a plan in place and training your staff to properly react to these threats can help minimize the risk of harm to your employees and protect your business’ reputation.

And Cardinal Point Security can help you achieve these planning and training goals.