Workplace Violence – Will Your Plan Fail When You Need It Most?
You’ve your company’s workplace violence plan all finished. It’s loaded with all of the preventative and reporting procedures you think you need. You’re all prepared, but…
…for your people to protect themselves if something actually happens and they find themselves being violently attacked by an enraged attacker?
The problem with the majority of workplace violence plans this day is probably invisible to the individuals responsible for writing them. In fact, the missing part is conspicuously missing from most of the training programs and advice offered by even the most expensive consultants. And yet, it’s this critical element that, if missed, could leave you and your company with the very same liability issue that you originally implemented your plan to handle in the first place.
The truth us that, prevention is great and certainly necessary. So, a plan’s “zero-tolerance” statements, banned weapons lists, or employee interaction policies should be included in a well-designed one. Likewise, you’ll need to make sure that your reporting and disciplinary procedures are there to cover your company and to comply with some government rules and regulations. But, a good plan will be focused on the reason that we bothered to create a workplace violence prevention policy in the first place. And that reason is…
…liability control, and loss management.
Right?
Unless you’re in the habit of making up policies for your company just because you attended a seminar or read an article about it and some so-called expert stated you needed it, your workplace violence management policy should be seen for what it is – a critical, potentially life-saving, part of your company’s overall liability-management systems.
I say “life-saving” in the sense of your company’s financial life, of course, because a major incident happening in your organization can literally wipe you out. But, when I state “life-saving,” I’m also referring to the lives of everyone who is covered by your workplace violence plan. Because, an attacker intent on doing harm, regardless of whether he or she’s one of your own employees or an outsider, as is almost always the case in incidents involving nurses and the medical care industry, doesn’t care one iota about your zero-tolerance, about what you take into account to be a weapon, or what you’re going to do to them afterwards.
There’s, however, a growing host of lawyers who do care whether or not your plan includes the same elements that I focus on. They’re, quite literally, standing by and willing to represent any of your employees hurt in a workplace violence incident. Some of these missing elements include:
* Escape and evasion tactics during an attack
* Attack avoidance skills
* Assault prevention training, and of course…
* 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’re the only elements that are included specifically to protect the lives of…
* your employees and management staff – literally
* 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 start 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 it won’t fail you when the worst happens – when you need it the most!
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