High-profile shootings like the incident at YouTube’s headquarters are dominating the news, but workplace violence is much more common than most people realize unfortunately.

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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) estimates that every year, almost two million U.S. workers are victims of workplace violence. According to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics Census, homicides accounted for 10 percent of all fatal workplace injuries in 2016. In addition to that a recent FBI study found that businesses were the setting for nearly half of 160 active-shooter incidents over a 13-year-period. Workplace violence can take many forms, including homicide, assault, stalking, threatening words, threatening conduct, and harassment. It results in a decline in employee morale, management inefficiencies, and decreased productivity. Employers also bear the burden of workplace violence because its consequences include significant costs in lost wages, employee absences, and increased benefit payments.

Employers have a duty to provide a safe workplace and must prevent workplace violence to protect their employees and avoid liability.

How a Company Policy Can Help

A well-written and implemented workplace violence prevention policy — combined with engineering controls, administrative controls, and training — can reduce the incidence of workplace violence. This policy can stand on its own or be incorporated into an injury and illness prevention program, employee handbook, or operations manual. The goals of any workplace violence prevention policy are two-fold:

• Reduce the probability of threats or acts of violence in the workplace.
• Ensure that any incident, complaint, or report of violence is immediately addressed and properly managed.

The primary components of a workplace violence prevention policy include clearly defined reporting and response procedures, a workplace security risk evaluation, prevention tools, mandatory training, and other necessary support services. Employers must inform employees of the requirements of applicable state and federal law, the risk factors in their workplace, and the location of the written workplace violence prevention program. It’s important that all workers are informed of the policy and understand that management strives to keep all employees safe in the workplace and will take all concerns seriously.

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Read Full Article: ThinkHR