Preventing
Violence and
Recognizing
Potentially
Violent
People
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Preventing
Violence: Tips for Retailers
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Provide adequate lighting. Illuminate the parking lot, the store front, the interior of the store. |
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Never keep more than $50 in the cash drawer. Have employees frequently "sweep" excess cash into a drop box. |
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Prominently display a sign that says Cash Drawer Contains Less than $50. The front door is a good place for such a sign. |
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Provide larger staffing during periods when crimes are more likely. Assign more than one employee to evening or night shifts. |
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Train employees to greet all customers as they enter the store. Establish personal contact. |
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Refuse to open the door to anyone before or after regular business hours. |
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If a crime should occur, see that the door is locked after the assailant leaves, and that the police are called at once. |
Preventing
Violence: Tips for Non-Retail Facilities
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Create a policy of Zero Tolerance for violence, including threatening behavior. Be sure that both employees and clients understand what behavior is unacceptable. |
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Take all threats seriously. |
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Encourage employees to report threatening behavior, whether the threat is to themselves or to others. Provide them with a channel to make such reports comfortably. |
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Encourage management to react to reports of threatening behavior. |
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Be alert to behavioral changes in employees or clients. |
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If possible, control who has access to your facility. |
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Use the right resources to deal with reports of threatening behavior—security, human resource department, psychologist, attorney, etc. |
Recognizing Potentially
Violent People
Warning Signs
A potentially violent individual:
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is a loner, with low self-esteem |
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cannot control anger |
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is chronically at war with management |
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abuses drugs or alcohol |
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is never happy with work conditions |
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is obsessed with weapons |
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constantly complains about injustices at work |
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has few outlets for impatience or rage |
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makes threats without seeming to be just "blowing off steam" |
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creates fear in co-workers |
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complains frequently of feeling victimized |
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always blames mistakes on someone else |
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seems attracted to violence |
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exhibits self-destructive behavior |
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stalks or harasses co-workers, sexually or otherwise |
While not all of these signs may be exhibited in the same person, the violence-prone individual is likely to reflect two or more.
Profiles
The Covertly Violent Employee -- This person may not exhibit violent behavior, but is involved in behind-the-scenes activity to disrupt the workplace. He may use sabotage, vandalism, anonymous letter-writing, or unsettling voice mail messages to carry out the attacks. The threats are indirect, but are capable of destroying a company or even taking a life, as, for example, an employee who tampers with the brake lines on a company vehicle.
The Dangerous Employee – It may frequently have been said of this individual that "it was just a matter of time." He has trouble handling anxiety and is quick to anger, sometimes erupting into violence. Fellow workers, supervisors, managers—anyone who gets in this person's way—are at risk.
The Overtly Violent Employee -- This person is not afraid to make his violent intentions known. The threat level is high, and the potential for assault of other employees must be taken seriously. He will use any means to achieve his antisocial ends, including physical attack, arson, or destruction of the company’s or other employees’ property. He is the worker that other workers avoid. If he says he is going home to get a weapon, he is likely to do just that.
Estranged Husband or Boyfriend
-- This person may start with bothersome or threatening calls to his ex-mate. He may have
threatened her or beat her in the past. He may be known to the police. Like the Overtly
Violent Employee, he is capable of bringing a weapon to the workplace and using it. The
victims of such an action frequently include more than the original target of his
violence.
