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Today's Date: Thursday, August 21, 2008

Mitigating Workplace Violence

Monday, June 30, 2008

Workplace violence, and the impact of these incidents, can be mitigated through the recognition of the impending signs of potential violent behavior. Research supports that the majority of incidents of workplace violence could have been avoided, or the impact limited, had people been properly educated and trained to detect and respond to specific individual thread of common behaviors, including: A person experiences distress The individual perceives there is no resolution Rationalization begins to justify position blaming others for all their problems The person believes they must "protect" themselves becoming egocentric and self-centered Violence becomes a tool to gain control and they begin to discuss or demonstrate more violent behaviors They attempt or commit a violent act(s) Unfortunately, research also supports that incidents of violence escalate during times of economic pressures, warmer weather and immediately after another, well-publicized act of workplace violence -- "copy cat syndrome" -- such as the recent incident in Kentucky. Workplace violence has been the #1 concern of corporate security professionals for the past 15 years straight Nearly 50% of all service companies have at least one workplace violence incident resulting in injury each year More than 25% of workplace violence is domestic-related and nearly 2/3rds are committed by non-employees Workplace violence, and the threat of violence, costs businesses millions each year due to lost productivity, liability and compliance In the wake of the Virginia Tech attacks, Andrews International developed and published Building a Culture of Safety an educational tool for faculty, students, parents and others regarding participating in their campus security program. The materials were distributed for FREE to colleges and universities and are available FREE on their web site HYPERLINK "http://www.andrewsinternational.com/" www.andrewsinternational.com

© 2003, Employee Assistance Program Manager