subject: How to Mitigate Workplace Shootings [print this page] How to Mitigate Workplace Shootings How to Mitigate Workplace Shootings
It seems as if workplace shootings are becoming epidemic. For example:
A factory employee went on a shooting spree at a St. Louis industrial plant, killing three co-workers and injuring five others.
At the Ft. Hood military base in Texas, a rampage by Maj. Nidal Mlik Hasan killed 13 and wounded 30.
A gunman walked into an Orlando, Florida, engineering firm where he had been fired in 2007 and killed one person and injured another five.
The estranged husband of an Oregon woman who had just filed for divorce, walked into her office and shot her to death. He wounded two workers before taking his own life.
And let's not forget Annie Le, the Yale researcher who was shot to death in her Yale University lab, allegedly by a technician who worked with her.
The risk of this kind of violence is significant enough that employers across the country are setting up safeguards, crafting firearms policies, and providing employee training on steps to take in the face of an armed individual making threats. As an employer, you have a legal responsibility to provide a safe workplace and to take steps to reduce the likelihood of violence.
To a certain extent, there is no way to tell when violence may erupt, your company can take these precautions:
Watch for warning signs of potential outbursts. The signals can include verbal threats, threatening conduct, bizarre verbal comments or obsessive grudges against co-workers. Don't ignore these warnings. Carefully document suspicious behavior and consult with specialists such as police or attorneys on how to handle the situation.
Train employees, supervisors and managers how to respond to a threat. It is critical to never confront or threaten a potentially violent individual. The wrong moves can mean the difference between life and death.
Have only one entrance and make sure all other doors stay locked. Remind employees, and post signs saying that all doors are to remain locked for safety reasons and should be opened only in an emergency.
Require threatened employees to report incidents to management. Investigate immediately to determine the seriousness of the threats and take appropriate action.
Discipline employees who don't follow the policies.
When it comes to weapons, nearly all employers in most states have a legal right to ban persons from having handguns and other firearms in their workplaces. However, check your state's gun control laws. They may impose restrictions on your company's ability to limit guns.
Here are more steps most employers can take to protect against guns in the workplace:
Post signs at property entrances declaring the employer's policy regarding the presence of guns. (Note: The law in some states may require a particular type of sign or a wording.)
Train supervisors and managers how to identify potentially violent situations in the workplace, how to defuse them, and how to respond if they are not defused.
Adopt a company policy against firearms and other weapons in the workplace. Inform all employees of the policy and include it in your employee handbook.
Sample Anti-Weapon Policy1
In order to ensure a safe environment for employees and customers, [Employer Name] prohibits wearing, transporting, storing or the presence of firearms or other dangerous weapons in or on our facilities and property.
Any employee possessing a firearm or other weapon while in our facilities or on our property or while otherwise performing job responsibilities may face disciplinary action including termination.
A client or visitor who violates this policy may be removed from the property and reported to police authorities. Possession of a valid concealed weapons permit authorized by [Name of State] does not exempt any individual from this policy.2
We define firearms or other dangerous weapons as any:
Devices from which a projectile may be fired by an explosive;
Simulated firearms operated by gas or compressed air; Sling shots; Sand clubs; Metal knuckles; Spring blade knives; Knives that open or are ejected open by an outward, downward thrust or movement; and
Instruments that can be used as a club and pose a reasonable risk of injury.
This policy does not apply to law enforcement, security or military personnel while engaged in official duties.
Signs stating "No Firearms or other Dangerous Weapons" will be conspicuously posted in and around our facilities.
Staff or security personnel will request any visitor found in possession of a dangerous weapon to remove it from the facility and will promptly notify local law enforcement authorities.2
Any employee concerned about personal safety may request an escort or other assistance by security personnel. Educational materials will be made available on request outlining the role firearms and other weapons play in workplace violence and describing the magnitude of problem in the United States. Training will be provided to employees on this and other workplace violence prevention measures that [Employer Name] has implemented.
1 Adapted from a model developed by the University of Minnesota.
2 This phrase is optional. Some companies follow state laws on this issue. For example, Home Depot, in a 2003 letter to the Tennessee Firearms Association, stated that the company prohibits employees from carrying firearms into its stores but "does not prohibit anyone who is legally permitted to carry firearms from entering our stores, provided the firearms are carried in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations."
