Workplace Violence: A Concern for All Employers

OSHA defines workplace violence as "any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site."

Violent incidents include threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and even homicide. Violence can affect and involve employees, clients, customers, and visitors. Perpetrators may be employees, customers and clients, people with no connection to the workplace, or family or friends of employees.

Nearly 2 million American workers report having been victims of workplace violence each year, according to OSHA. Many more cases go unreported. Workplace violence can strike anywhere, anytime, and no one is immune.

Clearly, however and wherever it manifests itself, workplace violence is a concern for employers and employees nationwide.

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Policy and Program

OSHA says that in most workplaces where risk factors can be identified, the risk of assaults can be prevented or minimized if you take appropriate precautions.

One of the best protections you can offer your workers, according to OSHA, is to establish a zero-tolerance policy toward workplace violence. This policy should cover all workers, clients, visitors, contractors, and anyone else who may come in contact with your personnel.

OSHA also believes that a well-written and properly implemented violence prevention program, combined with engineering controls, administrative controls, and training, can reduce the incidence of workplace violence.

Your workplace violence prevention program can be a separate program, or it can be incorporated into your injury and illness prevention program, employee handbook, or manual of standard operating procedures.

However you structure it, it’s critical that all workers are involved in the program and understand your workplace violence policy. Workers should also know that all claims of workplace violence will be investigated and remedied promptly.

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Ready-Made Checklists

BLR’s Safety Audit Checklists provides safety and health checklists on more than 50 essential workplace topics, including workplace violence, to help you zero in on just the right content for your safety training sessions.

Each Safety Audit Checklists section contains:

• A review of applicable OSHA standards
• Safety management tips
• Training requirements
• At least one comprehensive safety checklist

Many sections also contain a compliance checklist, which highlights key provisions of OSHA standard. All checklists can be copied and circulated to supervisors and posted for employees.

All told, this best-selling program provides you with more than 300 separate safety checklists keyed to three main criteria:

• OSHA compliance checklists, built right from the government standards in such key areas as HazCom, lockout/tagout, electrical safety, and many more.
• "Plaintiff attorney" checklists, built around those non-OSHA issues that often attract lawsuits.
• Safety management checklists that monitor the administrative procedures you need to have for topics such as OSHA 300 Log maintenance, training program scheduling and recording, and OSHA-required employee notifications. 

Make as many copies as you need for all your supervisors and managers, and distribute. What’s more, the entire program is updated annually. And the cost averages only about $1 per checklist.

If this method of ensuring a safer, more OSHA-compliant workplace interests you, we’ll be happy to make Safety Audit Checklists available for a no-cost, no-obligation, 30-day evaluation in your office. Just let us know, and we’ll be pleased to arrange it.

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