Think Hockey’s Violent? Try Working in a Restaurant

Hockey has its share of violence. Hockey players are tough. They have to be.

But as ex-NHL player, Paul Bissonnette, found out, restaurants can be pretty violent places to work too.  

In fact, according to FBI statistics, restaurants are the 8th most common location for violence incidents with over 10,000 occurring per year. And it’s not just fast food places where violence occurs, It can happen at any restaurant anywhere. 

Recently, Bissonnette posted a 3-minute video online from the hospital where he was treated for injuries he sustained during a violent incident caused by a group of restaurant patrons. 

Bissonnette, a regular patron at the restaurant, went to help out the restaurant’s manager, who was being physically threatened after shutting off liquor service to those patrons. 

In this piece, I’ll cover strategies that restaurant employers and employees can apply to help avoid physical harm from workplace violence. 

Take the guesswork out of keeping your employees safe and complying with California’s workplace violence prevention training requirements with my free California Employers Workplace Violence Prevention Training Checklist. 

I learned about effective violence prevention through conducting investigations into workplace and community violence for 30 years. There’s no pound of cure once violence happens. I’ve seen up close the damage done by even a single violent incident. And that’s why I help small and midsize California employers implement an effective workplace violence prevention program. 

Workplace Violence Safety Hazards Faced by Restaurant Employees

The restaurant in the incident with Bissionette experienced type 2- invitee (patron) sourced workplace violence. And that is the most common form of workplace violence in restaurants. 

But, restaurant employees face physical harm from all 4 source types of workplace violence. 

Alcohol, as it did here, can be a contributing factor for invitee violence at restaurants. But, patrons have assaulted restaurant staff over wait times for their food, and disagreements over the cost of a meal. 

And it’s not just employees in restaurants that face violence from invitees. Patrons are  attacked by other patrons too. And that type of attack can lead to a lawsuit against an establishment. 

Community sourced violence against restaurant employees is common too. These incidents range from robbery, and attacks by street people to sexual assaults, and even protests over world events that turn violent.  

Restaurants also have higher percentages of female employees, with comparably higher levels of intimate partner violence, co-worker violence, and sexual assault.  

The biggest challenge to employee safety for employers is their lack of authority over individuals who commit community, invitee, and employee intimate partner violence. The lack of authority means less ability to intercede before violence happens. 

And, as the incident with Bissonnette showed, violence from these three source types happens quickly with little warning. 

Training Focus

Conducting safety assessments of the most likely hazards to employees and how the physical environment around the restaurant can factor into those safety threats helps determine the types of training to provide to your employees. 

Once the safety hazards are determined, employers should start by training employees in recognizing the circumstances where those safety threats are most likely to occur. 

Employees should be trained to recognize how violence arises differently for each of the four source types for workplace violence. Doing so helps them to better anticipate safety hazards. 

Employers must provide employees with strategies and skillsets to avoid physical harm from violence that can be applies when employees recognize a threat to their safety. Including: 

•  Situational awareness to recognize that a safety hazard is materializing early enough to be able to avoid engaging with that safety hazard. This is especially helpful when dealing with community sourced violence, and employee family related violence that spills over.
•  Communicating to co-workers and managers when there is a develop concern for safety, including using code words and other types of signals to request support. This is especially important when dealing with invitee sourced workplace violence safety hazards.
•  De-escalation. The ability to lessen a tense situation can keep that situation from becoming violence. This includes learning reflective listening, and also how to redirect someone thought process from getting fixed on physical harm.
•  Parking lot safety. Restaurant employees often arrive and leave work at off hours. And parking lots offer community violence sources, and family related sources, multiple opportunities to attack an employee. Knowing how to keep safe in a parking lot can keep employees from being physically harmed.
•  Reading body language. Because violence can happen suddenly and without warning, attempting to de-escalate a situation when there’s no opportunity to do so will lead to an employee being physically attacked. Being able to read body language helps understand when an attack is imminent.
•  The buddy system. There’s safety in numbers. Whether it’s dealing with an angry patron, or providing an escort to an employee facing a stalker, the buddy system can eliminate the opportunity to attack.
•  Changing the dynamics of an attack. Attackers launch attacks using the element of surprise. The ability to take away the initial advantage that an attacker has can keep an employee from being physically harmed.
•  Self-defense. When an attack happens, knowing how to defend yourself may be the only way to avoid physical harm. 

I help small and midsize employers implement to keep their employees safer. Take the guess work out of complying with California’s new workplace violence prevention requirements.  Schedule a free consultation and we'll discuss your workplace violence prevention needs.