Do You Know the
Workplace Violence Prevention Standards?
More importantly, are you in compliance?
When it comes to workplace violence in your organization, is enough being done? Perhaps more importantly, are the right things being done and how do you know they are? If you have not considered these questions and at least begun to address them, you could be held liable, you could be sued and in some cases, you could go to jail!
Obviously the truth of the matter is that the odds of you becoming a victim of an actual violent act in your workplace or of having it occur in your workplace is less than getting hit by lightning. But court awarded verdicts for lesser "precursors" to violence, such as bullying and intimidation, have cost employers millions of dollars. And if there is a complaint of a perceived problem in the workplace brought to OSHA's attention by any employee, OSHA will investigate and they can fine the organization thousands of dollars for each violation.
Other countries are making workplace violent prevention programs mandatory – including making it a criminal offense to not have policies in place and training provided for all. Recently, the American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS) and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) came together and forged an 80 page document addressing all of these issues which has been approved by the American National Standards Institute. This standard can now be utilized for your organization to make sure your organization is taking the necessary proactive approach to workplace violence, addressing prevention and early intervention techniques.
This standard outlines how to detect, investigate and manage concerns for workplace safety from violence. It discusses how to implement a Workplace Violence Prevention and Intervention Program. It discusses protocols for effective incident management. Additionally, it tells what you must have in place; from a policy, to a Threat Management team or individual to appropriate training for all levels of employees.
Andrews International has taken this one step further, not only ensuring their workplace violence prevention programs comply with the ASIS/SHRM standard, but that programs also comply with the recent OSHA guidelines to conform with their enforcement procedures. Ray O'Hara, Andrews International Executive VP and currently the President of ASIS, oversees this project. Together with Dr. Michael Corcoran, a leading threat assessment expert, they assist customers with design and implementation of effective and successful workplace violence prevention programs – which often starts with necessary training.
Get the new ASIS WVP Standard Here:
http://www.asisonline.org/guidelines/published.htm
More info on AI WVP Programs!
