With the increase in workplace violence over the past few years, personal safety must be a top priority for all employees and employers. Yesterday in Tennessee, an unidentified male opened fire at Parkwest Medical Center in West Knoxville, Tennessee killing one woman and injuring two other current or former employees prior to shooting himself. In January, there was an incident at a St. Louis company involving a former employee who murdered three and wounded an additional five employees then shot himself because he was disgruntled about his pension. He fired over one hundred rounds throughout the complex before putting the gun to his chin and pulling the trigger. In February, Amy Bishop attended a biology department meeting armed with a gun and randomly murdered three of her fellow biology department professors at the University of Alabama. The point is that violence can happen in the workplace and both employees and employers need to prepare accordingly for any type of threat.
In order for employees to appropriately prepare themselves for a workplace violence incident awareness and mental preparation are the first steps. In addition to mental self defense, it would be wise for employees to get educated on basic self defense techniques and even possibly carry a weapon or self defense tool as long as there is adherence to company policy.
Even though there has not been a workplace violence incident in Scottsdale that I am aware of recently, I lost two high school friends in Scottsdale to a workplace violence incident back in 2004 when one of their “friends” killed both of them because they complained about the shooter’s frequent use of meth. Regardless of whether it is a big company or small company, employers need to be aware that a workplace violence incident is possible and take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of their employees. In fact, I would challenge every Scottsdale employer to appoint at least two (a primary and a secondary) company safety captains and to also run company safety drills at least once a month. Prevention and detection are the keys to reducing workplace violence; ignorance and unawareness are unacceptable.
Click here for The USDA Handbook on Workplace Violence Prevention and Response or contact Shieldher. Be safe!
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