13 Red Flags of Workplace Violence and How to Prevent It

Eight employees killed, 2 injured. Two workers killed, one injured. Boyfriend follows girlfriend to work – kills her at her desk. And, on and on it goes – daily – in every news media in the country and beyond.

Violence in the workplace is not limited to a general idea of physical assault – although intra-employee assaults, harassment and bullying are very common. Murder in the workplace is becoming common and continues to be an issue far greater than employers and employees realize.

Workplace violence cannot be eliminated entirely. However, the employer who has a workplace safety program with a section on preventing violence can achieve a significant reduction in both workplace injuries and the severity of the injuries due to violence.

The two-prong approach to mitigating workplace violence consists of recognizing violent situations and implementing preventive steps.

1. Recognizing Workplace Violence
2. Employers and employees must understand a safe work environment is everyone’s responsibility.
3. Employers need to train employees on how to recognize an unsafe situation relating to co-workers.
4. Employers need to stress workplace violence does not “go with the job” and no one has to “put up with it.”
5. Employees must notify management of abnormal behaviors of co-workers who threaten, by word or action, themselves or other workers.

Most violent employees behave in ways that alerts co-workers and employer prior to a violent act.

Look for these red flags of violence:

1. Prior history of violent behavior.
2. Making threats, either verbal or physical.
3. Unexplained mood changes.
4. Screaming, yelling, or making a fist.
5. Expressing homicidal or suicidal thoughts.
6. Holding a grudge against a supervisor/co-workers.
7. Blaming all things that go wrong on co-workers, supervisors, or management.
8. Expressing a feeling of loss of control within his/her life.
9. A history of domestic abuse.
10. Being obsessed with weapons or carrying a weapon.
11. Being a loner with no involvement with co-workers.
12. Having paranoid behavior or making statements reflecting paranoid thoughts.
13. An unwanted romantic interest in a co-worker.
14. Abuse of alcohol/illicit drugs/medications off work.
15. Abuse of alcohol/illicit drugs/medications at work (grounds for immediate termination).
16. Extreme financial and/or extreme family problems.

Employee Responsibility

Once employees know and understand the red flags for potential violence, the employer must provide an environment where employees feel free to report their concerns confidentially without fear of any reprisal from supervisors or management.

1. The employee notifies the immediate supervisor at once.

2. The employee’s supervisor takes appropriate action according to the employer’s Safety Program.

Your company safety program must include a written policy on preventing workplace violence including a zero tolerance statement for workplace violence; zero tolerance for the threat of workplace violence — verbal and/or physical.

3. If the supervisor does not take the appropriate action, the employee follows the chain of command (involving Human Resource) until management takes protective measures to ensure employee safety.

4. The employer assesses and documents both objective and subjective behavior(s) of the employee causing concern. Immediately implementing proactive, preventive procedures.

Implementation is more, much more, than a set of neatly written “rules” and/or “policies.” Implementation means having proactive, concrete action in place before there is a crisis, such as an employee shooting up the entire workplace and training, training, training until everyone knows exactly what to do to prevent violence in their workplace.

1. LOCK all outside access doors. Limit access (keys/cards) to designated personnel. Everyone else must be “buzzed” in by authorized personnel.

2. Hire qualified security guards.

3. Limit access inside your facility to those persons working in specific areas. For example, only accounting people have keys/cards to the accounting area. Everyone else must be “buzzed” in by authorized personnel.

4. LOCK access to the Human Resource department. No one enters without permission.

5. Establish and enforce a no weapons policy, i.e., no one (except security) may bring a weapon of any kind into the physical workplace. Violation subject to immediate dismissal.

6. Install a metal detector monitored by a security guard.

7. Prohibit weapons of any kind from being brought onto the employer’s property, i.e., parking lot, shipping zone, outdoor areas where employees may congregate. Violation subject to immediate dismissal.

8. Encourage employees with domestic dispute problems to freely come forward (notify supervisor and HR) of any potential family problems. ASK before allowing someone to visit an employee in a domestic abuse situation. Work with local police to enforce protective orders.

9. Do not allow unauthorized persons, i.e., visitors, family members, delivery people, vendors, to wander around unaccompanied.

10. Move dismissals, reprimands, and other potentially volatile employee interviews offsite to a secure, neutral location or to a locked off-limits area on the employer’s property with security guards present. Be alert for potential “bad/odd actions.”

1. Search the employee and possessions. Just think, if the man who carried his lunch box to his firing (odd action) containing his guns into the kitchen was searched OR not allowed access to the kitchen after his dismissal, lives might have been saved.

2. Security guards (2) accompany the employee from the front door to the interview room and remain in the room, out of earshot.

3. At the conclusion, especially if the employee is fired, the guards accompany the employee to his/her vehicle and off the premises.

4. Arrange for all personal effects to be sent to the employee.

5. The ex-employee is NOT allowed back onto the property or into the employer’s building for any reason.

Workplace violence is not limited to employees. Often estranged domestic partners or estranged lovers strike out at a partner while the partner is at work.

Persons dealing with the general public, such as convenience store cashiers, are subjected to violence from outsiders.

Terroristic acts by disgruntled former employees or disgruntled customers can be the cause of workplace violence. In some metropolitan areas gang-related activity can invade the workplace.

A part of your safety program is to address the access to the work site by non-employees. Your employees must know what protocol is in place, to both prevent individuals from gaining access and to allow access. Management is immediately notified when any deviation from the established procedure occurs.

Just as employers have a “no personal phone call” policy, they can also have a “no personal visitor” policy. Or, allow employees to register the name of any person(s) they do not want admitted to their workspace.

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