Workplace violence can occur anywhere and in any industry. Whether due to a disgruntled employee, a stranger suffering from a mental health concern or any other reason, workplace violence can cause harm to employees, employers, customers, brand reputation, property and more.

Because of the threat of workplace violence, it’s important for employers to be prepared. One way to do this is to monitor the workplace for problematic behavior or brewing conflict. You should also consider creating workplace violence protocols to respond to emergency situations. The goal of these workplace violence protocols should always be to protect the health and safety of employees and customers while also ensuring that the proper authorities are alerted as soon as possible. For more information about workplace violence protocols, visit the website.

Preventing Violence Before It Strikes

You can take steps to prevent violence before it strikes by including background checks into your hiring process. If an applicant has a history of violent criminal activity in their past, consider scrutinizing the applicant more intensely. Someone with a criminal record is not necessarily more likely to re-offend, but a criminal history of violence should give you a moment of pause to look further into things.

Be Approachable

Although spontaneous acts of violence in the workplace do occur, workplace violence is often the result of building tensions that have been just under the surface for a while. To combat the potential for tensions to lead to violence, offer your employees an open, welcoming space where they can go to discuss personal problems they may be experiencing.

This can be done through independent counseling services offered through your company, but you can also make yourself available to discuss employee needs. When you make yourself approachable, employees are more likely to talk about problems rather than acting on their emotions.

All communication with an employee regarding personal issues needs to be kept strictly confidential, especially if it pertains to mental health concerns. Failing to keep this information in confidence can lead to the potential for legal issues, and it could also make an already tense and emotional situation even worse.

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