Is My Workplace at Risk of Violence?

Threat Assessment Specialist, Dr Kelly WattQ. I'm concerned about what seems to be increased violence in workplaces. What industries are most at risk of violence? And is there anything we can do organisationally?

Industries that are most at risk of violence are often those that involve emergency response and service customers in crisis. These include industries such as health care settings, social service settings, criminal justice settings (e.g. law enforcement), emergency response settings (e.g. fire fighters), educational settings, and transport industries (e.g. taxi drivers and bus drivers). Although they need to be extra vigilant, if they implement best practices related to preventing, triaging, assessing and managing violence risk much can be done to increase the safey of employees. 

Addressing problematic work practices is very important in preventing the risk of violence from ever occurring. By doing things like reducing the stress employees experience, creating a respectful and supportive workplace environment, addressing serious conflict in the workplace, and responding to conduct problems as they occur, a great deal can be done to support employees and prevent violence. Often when we are contacted to conduct a workplace violence risk assessment there has been months to years of conduct problems and workplace conflict that if addressed differently may have prevented the situation from escalating to this level.  

Triaging for the Risk of Violence 

Join me for a great opportunity to attend a 1-day violence triage workshop that is taking place in Australia on November 12 (Sydney), November 13 (Melbourne), and November 18 (Canberra), 2013.

Workplaces have a responsibility to triage for and respond to obvious signs of violence under common law, statutory law, and professional ethics. This workshop will teach participants about what primary warning signs you should look and what immediate actions you should take in response to violence risk. By using an evidence-based process to make these decisions you will be protecting employers from potential liability and protecting employees from future harm.

This workshop is relevant for all professionals interested in learning how to triage for violence risk in their workplace, such as administration, human resources, law enforcement, security, health care, and social services.

For more information or to register for the workshop, see the full workshop brochure and registration form here or online.

“All of our senior staff who have responsibilities for assessing and managing violence risk have completed the training with ProActive ReSolutions. We have found the training to be excellent and all of our participants have reported an increase in their confidence and skills when assessing students with a history of violence. As an organization we also made significant changes to the way we managed these risks which have greatly increased our rigour of assessment and so the level of safety for our students and staff has increased.”

Jo Sedgers, Director of Learning and Engagement, TAFE NSW Western Institute

Please note this is the only open workshop scheduled for 2013 so far and spaces are limited so register at your earliest convenience!

Price:

$450  - early bird fee of $375 if booked before October 11.

Questions?

Speak with one of our Client Care Specialists at +61.02.9221.0446 in Australia,  or or email your question to info@proactive-resolutions.com.

View the original article here