6 Steps Employers Can Take to Prevent Type 3, Employee on Employee, Workplace Violence

Current and former employees “going postal”. That’s what most employers think of when they think about workplace violence.

California, in its new workplace violence prevention law describes “Type 3 violence” as “workplace violence directed at employees by a present or former employee, supervisor, or manager”.

It’s the type of workplace violence most sensationalized by the media. Shootings like the one on the farm in Half Moon Bay, CA, and the Walmart shooting in Chesapeake, VA garner national attention.

But, here’s the thing. It’s one of the easiest source types of workplace violence to prevent.

And here’s why: Nothing happens in a vacuum.

After this type of violence occurs, it almost always comes to light that there had been prior complaints of bullying or harassment, either by the person committing the violence, or directed at the one who engaged in violence from one of his co-workers.

Whether it results in a shooting, or more typically, a physical assault, this type of violence often follows a lack of action to address reported bullying.

In this article, I’ll cover some simple steps employers can take to prevent type 3, employee on employee violence.

I spent 30 years conducting civil and criminal litigation investigations where I saw, first hand, the tragic consequences from violence. Through this work, I learned how violence happens and how it can be prevented.? And, in order to be effective at my work, I had to learn to keep myself safe, while working in some very dangerous places and environment.

Preventing Type 3 Workplace Violence

Conventional wisdom says that employers need to fear employee on employee violence when a worker is fired. That the financial strains of losing his job puts the soon to be ex-employee over the top.

The violence happens because the person just “snapped” without warning.

There’s even consultants, that “profile” the person most likely to snap from the stress of losing his job. They cite alcoholism and drug use, isolationist tendencies, getting behind on bills, and going through a divorce or other stressful familial issues, as clues for employers to recognize when firing someone will lead to violence.

But, let’s be real. How many people show up to work, day in and day out, who: 1) drink too much 2) keep to themselves 3) fall behind on bills, or 4) are going through a divorce who would never attack a co-worker even when fired?

A whole lot.

To be sure. Firing someone can have risks. But for the most part, it can be done in a way that minimizes the risk of violence. Being empathetic to a person’s situation can go a long ways to reducing that risk.

But, most employee on employee violence is not related to someone being fired. Here are some specific steps you can take to prevent the majority of employee on employee workplace violence:

• ?Ask your employees. Employees know whether employers, supervisors, and managers, turn a blind eye to bullying, and harassment. Especially, if the one doing the bullying or harassment is considered an asset to the company. Employees know, when someone is being mistreated by co-workers, supervisors, and even managers. They’re your most important source for honest information.
• ?Cultivate an open communication workplace. Silence in the workplace doesn’t help when it comes to preventing workplace violence. Employees need to feel that it is safe to report harassment, bullying, or threats of violence. Your workplace must have both a confidentiality policy, and a retaliation policy that protect the person reporting an incident. And those policies must be enforced.
• ?Standardize your reporting process. A complaint process that is not clearly defined leads to confusion about who to go to when harassment or bullying occur. Standardizing the reporting process takes the guess work out. Employees that know specifically who to report an issue that they are having with a co-worker, are more likely to do so.
• ?Standardize your investigation process. Once a complaint is brought forward then action must be taken. And that means a standardized investigation process, including having specific people conduct any interviews, and identify who will follow a specific process to develop the factual information surrounding the complaint. This also includes standardizing the reporting of the information, and the assessment of the information.
• ?Hold those involved in the complaint and investigation process accountable. You must have a way to ensure that those tasked with receiving a complaint of harassment or bullying, and investigating that complaint, are actually doing their work. The path of least resistance, which for some means doing nothing, cannot be allowed to occur. That’s the root cause of many employee on employee workplace violence incidents.
• ?De-escalation skills. Employers should never assume that their employees, supervisors, and managers have developed the necessary skills to de-escalate a tense situation with a co-worker. Your employees must be taught how to calm a tense situation.

No approach is 100% fool proof. Implementing these steps will help reduce the risk of employee on employee violence.

Looking for a good place to start developing your required workplace violence prevention plan. Download my free CA workplace violence prevention checklist. ?

Mike Corwin helps California employers establish, implement, and maintain a workplace violence prevention plan that keeps employers safer, and complies with the requirements of California's new workplace violence prevention law.