The Nature of Violence and What That Means for Employee Safety

I saw a whole lot of violence and its devastating impact, up close, during my 30 years of conducting investigations. Probably the equivalent of 50 lifetimes worth for most other people.

But my proximity to violence during all of those years gave me a chance to understand it on a different level. And based upon that, to develop approaches to keeping people safe from work related violence.

In this piece, I’ll discuss the nature of violence. What that means for effective workplace violence prevention, and keeping employees safe from the four source types of workplace violence.

Still in the process of putting together your workplace violence prevention program required under California’s new workplace violence prevention law? My free CA workplace violence prevention checklist can help. 

The Nature of Violence

The way violence is portrayed in television, movies, and other forms of media, has created a public perception about the nature of violence that isn’t necessarily grounded in realty.

And this disconnect, can have real world safety consequences for employees.

Let’s look at some fundamentals regarding violence, and then apply those to the four source types of workplace violence that employees face.

•  Violence is not linear. Violence does not follow a standard progression. There isn’t a step 1, then a step 2, followed by a step 3, and then violence occurs at step 4. Violence can, and often does, happen without warning. And at any point in time. Yes, there are instances where there is a pathway of circumstances that leads up to violence. As a result your employees should be prepared to deal with violence that arises with or without warning.
•  Violence is uncertain and chaotic. People find certainty comforting. If you believe you know what will happen, then you can prepare for that specific scenario. But, violence doesn’t work that way. Instead it’s uncertain and it’s chaotic. It erupts in real time, and in its own way depending upon circumstances. And that requires that your employees be able to adapt on the fly as violence unfolds in real time.
•  Attackers have a plan. Even if it happens in just a matter of seconds, an attacker formulates a plan of attack before attacking. The attack is then carried out by the attacker based upon that plan. Typically that plan centers around the element of surprise. As the element of surprise creates an advantage for the attacker. Being able to anticipate when an attack is imminent helps create opportunities to take away that initial advantage.
•  Most attacks are over and done in 7 seconds. When someone launches an attack, the intent is not to engage in a give and take fight. The intent is to put you on the ground as quickly as possible where you’ll be at a major disadvantage. Being able to safely handle the initial attack without being put on the ground forces an attacker to recalibrate, and the more times that occurs the more likely the attacker is to cease his attack.
•  Most attackers know their victim. This is true in 3 of the 4 source types of workplace violence, and can even be the case with some types of community violence too. And the percentage of victims who know the attacker increases when the victim is a woman, and when the attack is work related. Yes, stranger violence does occur, but the likelihood of knowing the attacker is greater than your employees attacker being unknown to them.

Having a basic understanding of the nature of violence, helps to improve the effectiveness of your workplace violence prevention program.

Community Sourced Workplace Violence (type 1)

Community sourced workplace violence is the most likely of the four source types of workplace violence to be random, and to be committed by someone unknown to your employees. 

Community sourced workplace violence can occur where your employees park, inside your physical workplace, and the places out in the community where your employees, whose job responsibilities take them out into the field, to perform their work.

In many areas, community violence is driven by drug use and mental health issues, which can make those that engage in community sourced workplace violence unpredictable and desperate.

As a result, it’s critical for your employees to be trained in the unpredictable nature of violence, and in the speed with which violence occurs when providing them with strategies to avoid physical harm from violence. It’s also critical to train your employees in approaches that help them recognize and avoid a potential safety threat far enough in advance to avoid it or develop a strategy to address it. And to recognize when an attack is imminent. For community sourced violence, to be forewarned is to be forearmed, when it comes to avoiding physical harm. It is also critical for your employees to learn how to quickly develop an exit strategy, and how to implement the strategy when under threat.

Invitee Sourced Workplace Violence (type 2) 

Invitee sourced workplace violence is among the most common source types of workplace violence. And that’s because it allows someone with freedom of movement to have access to your employees without restrictions of movement.

Because Invitee violence involves someone who is invited into the workplace or is already located at a work location when your employees works away from workplace, it can cause your employees to drop their guard.

Further, by dint of their relationship with your organization, invitees are in close physical proximity to your employees. When it comes to violence, close proximity equals present ability.

As a result, when training your employees to avoid physical harm from invitee sourced violence, a focus should be placed on understanding the manner in which attacks typically happen. And how attackers can use the element of surprise inside your own, or their environment, to create an advantage. It also is critical to focus on ensuring that employees understand that most attacks occur from someone they know. And why remaining vigilant can be necessary even though the invitee is familiar to them.

Co-worker Sourced Workplace Violence (type 3) 

Co-worker sourced workplace violence is the easiest of the four source types for workplace violence to prevent because it is the one source type where the employer has a say over everyone involved.

Co-worker violence is the source type most likely to provide advanced notice that a problem is developing before it actually becomes a safety hazard. And therefore, the easiest to nip in the bud, especially with a standardized complaint and investigation process. 

However, because there can be multiple engagements between co-workers before violence, this source type of workplace violence is the easiest for an attacker to plan. And that plan can include use of a weapon.

The biggest safety challenges to focus on when training employees in how to avoid physical harm from from co-worker violence is the close physical proximity to one another, an attacker’s familiarity with the work location from working there, and getting employees to understand that most violence is committed by someone known to the victim, which means not dropping their guard.

Individuals Personally Connected to Employees Sourced Workplace Violence (type 4)

Workplace violence by an employee’s family member, ex-partner, friend, or neighbor, who is unrelated to the workplace (type 4) is the hardest for employers to prevent.

There’s typically a boundary between home life and work life. A boundary that both employees and employers want. And this boundary tends to keep employers in the dark as to an employee’s safety hazard.

In addition to that, there is an emotional element to this type of violence that combines explosivity with an element of planning. Because of these, this source type of violence exemplifies that there is no linear progression to violence, and that it is chaotic and uncertain in nature. And in addition, the attacker is always know to the victim.

When training employees in strategies to avoid physical harm from workplace violence, it is critical that employees fully understand the nature of violence, and that there be good communication with the employer when there is a private life situation that risks spilling over into the workplace. This communication allows for the implementation of the buddy system, especially for parking area safety, where this type of attack is most likely to occur.

Learn more about training your employees in strategies to avoid physical harm that will help to keep them safe from all four source types of workplace violence.