3 Quick Tips for Effective Workplace Violence Prevention
Mandy, a volunteer at her church, was teaching her regular Sunday school class of 5 and 6 year olds when a disheveled looking man walked into the classroom. He looked around the room and then sat down at a children’s desk.
Mandy knew the parents of the kids in her class. This man was not one of them.
He seemed agitated, and began talking outloud. Not to anyone in particular. But the more he spoke, the more strident his voice sounded.
Mandy could feel the anxiety level rise in the classroom. The kids, who often squirmed in their seats, were frozen in place with fear.
While others might have panicked in such a unsettled situation, Mandy did not. She knew that keeping calm was critical to everyone’s safety.
While continuing to teach the children, Mandy walked over towards the man, and positioned herself between the man and the children.
She held her hands up in the safe stance, (hands up, palms out). Depicting calm to the man, but ready to protect herself and the children if need be.
Remaining between the man and the children, Mandy spoke to him, redirecting his attention away from the children and towards her.
As she spoke with the man, Mandy moved closer to him, bit by bit. She kept her hands up in the safe stance position. After what seemed like an eternity, Mandy was able to coax the man to leave the classroom.
Mandy knew what to do in this stiatuion because she was one of several church volunteers who did violence prevention training with me.
Here are the 3 powerful steps that Mandy took to reduce the risk of violence:
1. Mandy used situational awareness observing the potential safety threat early enough to develop and implement an approach to keep the kids safe.
Situational awareness is the #1 most important strategy to avoid physical harm. By implementing situational awareness, Mandy gave herself an early warning of the safety threat, which gave her enough time (early warning) to develop a response (option) to keep everyone safe.
2. Mandy remained calm, and projected that calm to the man, keeping him calm, so that she could redirect his thoughts away from escalating into violence.
De-escalation is more than just speaking calmly. You’ve got to show calm in a way that helps calm an agitated potential attacker. In redirecting his thoughts she was able to get him to focus on her, and not the kids.
3. Mandy positioned herself in between the man and the kids.
Mandy created both a visual barrier between the man and the kids. She used the safe stance to depict calm, but also to be defend the kids and herself in case he launched into an attack.
Mandy engaged in an effective response by applying strategies to avoid physical harm. This is one of many required elements to train employees in under California’s workplace violence law.
Free resource for CA employers
If you have employees in California and want to quickly check your exposure under the state’s workplace violence requirements, I offer a free 15ā€‘minute CA Workplace Violence Compliance Risk Audit. In one short call, you’ll get a quick-read risk snapshot and your top 3 compliance gaps.
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