How To Cope With Workplace Violence

By: Don Carter	Email Article
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Workplace violence is a potential emergency scenario and therefore, a huge risk management concern for any company these days. Emergencies are typically unpredictable, especially when it is one that affects the business or employees of a company. However, you need to understand that you are vulnerable to these crises. They can occur to anyone, anytime, and you simply cannot avoid them forever. Your workplace may have to be suddenly evacuated due to an emergency like intruder violence. The only thing that you can possibly do to manage things is to draw up a plan for emergency readiness.

A workplace emergency is any situation that exposes employees and company to the threat of harm. It may result in physical and material damage. it may also impact your business as the daily operations of the company may be affected. The more common workplace emergency is workplace violence. It is capable of causing long-term damage to the employees as well as the organization.

You must prepare for violence in the workplace emergencies in advance. Typically people lose their ability to think logically and rationally in case of an emergency and a well planned and practiced plan can overcome this vulnerability by teaching employees what they have to do using a step by step approach. Effective planning for these situations demands that you think about the worst case scenarios extensively and rigorously.

An action plan for emergencies such as workplace violence must focus on ensuring the security of your people and business. The secret of designing an adequate plan lies in the fact that you must try to make your plan as comprehensive as possible. The first step of preparing an action plan includes outlining the goals and objectives. Again, the primary goal of any plan is to ensure safety. Secondly, you must ensure that the business is not negatively impacted by the emergency in the short and long term.

Any action plan prepared needs to consist of well defined procedures that must be followed for evacuation, reporting and safety. In case of workplace violence, the damage of material and physical damage is inevitable. Specific reporting procedures must be carried out to make an inventory of the damaged infrastructure. Additionally any medical emergencies must be immediately attended and documented as soon primary goals are achieved. In order to deal with these emergencies, you must have basic emergency tools and supplies like a first aid kit and jobsite radio, an in-house doctor (if possible or required) and water/food supply must be maintained. In addition, solar emergency lights must be available to deal with massive violence incidents that may shut the electricity supply of the place.

Emergency car kits can be useful during these situations. As part of emergency readiness, a emergency radio helps in keeping employees stuck inside connected to the rest of the world. Employees may need to be taken to the hospital. Therefore cars must be prepared to deal with massive emergencies. Car emergency kits must be prepared in advance. A car emergency kit must include compact stereos with flashlights, a car escape tool, and LED flashlight with multitools. A to-go-bag is a commercially available pre-packed emergency kit that may be purchased in bulk quantities to prepare for emergencies. Workplace violence can negatively affect your employees and your business. Effective emergency readiness can help you avoid any human or material losses.