Preventing Workplace Violence Now

One of the biggest issues plaguing a lot of companies right now is dealing with violence in the workplace. Violence comes in a number of forms as you can see it happen when you have an employee that is bullying another often or you can see it happen when you actually have another person physically hurt another person. It is important that you are understanding the signs and symptoms of workplace violence and quickly eradicating it from the workplace before it becomes an issue in the first place. Here are the 3 distinct signs of workplace violence:

1. Actual physical violence
2. Verbal abuse
3. Threats of violence

To prevent the issues from happening in your workplace, you need to be able to understand how to manage personalities that can easily lead to violence and to identify the signs of workplace violence. Here are some that you need to watch out for.

Threats
While some people use threats as "common language", it is very serious and you need to treat it this way. Threats can be dangerous. While they may seem harmless to some, they are the first signs that this person is capable of violence and has thoughts of violence against another person. Anytime you see one employee threatening another, step in right away. You might even consider involving law enforcement if the threats continue and the person needs to be removed from the workplace.

Policies
One of the problems that many companies find with violence in the workplace is the fact that they do not have a written policy on violence. You need to make sure you are getting in touch with your employees about violence in the workplace and talking to them about violence and the disciplinary actions that will be taken if anyone is caught in violation of the policy. The main thing with a policy is the fact that you need to enforce it. If you do not follow through with it, people will abuse it and you will continue dealing with violence in the workplace. A zero tolerance policy is the only way to get violence out of your workplace and to have an environment that is safe for everyone. Be clear with the policy and talk about the types of violence you see as punishable. Physical and verbal forms of violence need to be clearly identified with the policy for your employees to see it and to take it seriously.

Educational Courses
Another way to make people aware of violence and it's dangers is to hold educational courses. You need to make sure people understand what violence is and how to keep it out of your life. It is vital that your employees see what violence is and that they have some methods and tips on how to manage anger before it escalates to violence. Educational courses will greatly help you out in getting people to become aware of violence in it's several forms. When co-workers see it happening, they have a duty and responsibility to talk to you about it and report it to management. Then management must act accordingly to remove it from the company.

Clear Reporting Procedures
For you to have control over violence in the workplace you need to sure that you have clear reporting procedures for people to follow. When your staff knows what to do as far as filling out forms and reporting incidents, you will be able to have control over the situation and you can have documentation when you need to terminate an employee for their violent behavior and to provide evidence to police if they need to get involved.