Workplace Violence - Will Your Plan Fail When You Need It Most?
Jeffrey M. Miller
Finally, your company's new workplace violence plan is complete. It contains all of the preventative and reporting procedures your research and consultants have told you that you need. You're all prepared, but have you included the one section that's missing from most plans? Have you outlined and detailed the policies and training necessary...
...what about that hole in the middle of it? What hole? The one that answers the question, "what training will you be providing to teach your people what to do if they find themselves actually being confronted by an attacker?"
The problem that I've found with most workplace violence plans is something that is often invisible to most managers responsible for the development of these policies. In fact, the missing piece is rarely, if ever, covered by even the most expensive of consultants. And yet, this missing piece could actually leave you and your company holding the proverbial bag, liability-wise, should the unthinkable happen to, or by, one of your employees.
Don't misunderstand me. Prevention is absolutely your first line of defense. So, by all means, keep your "zero-tolerance" statement, and implement your banned-weapons lists and employee communications and interaction policies. Likewise, all of those reporting policies and procedures that you've worked long and hard on, shouldn't go to waste either. But, we shouldn't forget why we're bothering to create a workplace violence policy for your company. And that reason is...
...liability control, and loss management.
Isn't that right?
Well, that should be the only logical reason. So, unless a company's standard operating procedure is to create policies just because somebody in management or leadership read an article or safety bulletin about it somewhere, a solid, reliable, workplace violence policy should be seen as an important, life-saving, part of the overall liability-management and control systems already in place.
The term, "life-saving," may seem a bit strong but I mean it literally in the sense of a company's financial life. Because a violent attack happening in your facility can literally destroy your company. But, when I say "life-saving," I'm also talking about the lives of you, your employees, and anyone visiting and who might get caught in the cross-fire. The thing to remember is that, an assailant intent on attacking, regardless of whether he is one of your own or an outsider, doesn't care about your zero-tolerance stance - isn't concerned about whether he's "allowed" to have the weapon he's using, or what you're going to do to him after he's finished.
However, there is someone out there who cares whether or not you have the missing piece to your policy that I've been talking about. I'm referring to the growing number of lawyers who are more than ready to represent one of your employees who are injured in a workplace violence incident. The missing elements that I'm talking about include but are not limited to:
* Escape and evasion tactics during an attack
* Assault-evasion skills
* Assault protection techniques, and...
* Self-Protection skills
These are the important elements that could make or break a company's financial survival and future existence. Conspicuously missing from most plans, they are the only elements that are included specifically to protect the lives of...
* a company's greatest assets - it's people
* a company's financial standing, and maybe more importantly...
* your company's ability to successfully defend itself legally, in the aftermath of a violent attack - to defend yourself against once-loyal employees now holding you liable for not providing the training they needed to avoid their injuries.
I'm sure your policy looks great. I'm sure it looks complete. But, the reality is that, most people charged with creating these plans - whether or not it's you, a committee, or a specialist you brought in - lack the necessary experience in crisis management - especially with physical violence - to even begin creating such a policy. You owe it to yourself, your company, and the people who depend on you, to insure that your company's workplace violence plan is more than just a "feel-good" policy that might instill nothing but a false sense of security.
Make sure that- when you need it the most - when you're facing your worst nightmare in human form - it won't leave you hoping you'll survive so you can fill out those incident reporting forms!
Add the absent http://wcinternational.com/our_services.html violence in the workplace training which will make your plan complete. Before you hire another consultant, you owe it to yourself and your company to get the information on http://wcinternational.com/ workplace violence at wcinternational.com
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