Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliance and civil liability will often revolve around the legal opinion of whether an act of violence could have been foreseen, and mitigation or prevention steps taken. If the act occurred in your workplace, or in an environment related to your business dealings, your organization will have to answer this often unclear question of what was reasonably foreseeable. The different categories of workplace violence incidents have been defined as:

• Criminal intent by an individual not related to the workplace
• Violence by a customer/client/patient with some relation to the workplace
• Co-worker or former employee violence
• Personal relationship violence (domestic violence) unfolding in the workplace

None of these categories will escape this foreseeability question. So, what will be necessary in order to develop a defensible position that your organization had done everything reasonable to anticipate and prevent violence? You will need much of the following to build your defense:

• Crime statistics (trends and recent occurrences) in the geographic location of the workplace
• Physical security audit at the property
• Research on crimes and violence typically related to your industry – perhaps from professional associations or peer groups
• Records regarding specific acts of violence at the workplace (or at other company facilities) in the past
• Records of employee complaints and incidents of ‘bullying’ in the workplace
• Evidence of a written workplace violence prevention policy
• Evidence of employee and supervisory training relative to aggressive behavior recognition and reporting responsibilities
• Development of a case management team for assessment purposes when investigation of an individual or incident is called for
• Records regarding reports of domestic violence affecting someone in your workforce – especially if it has become noticed at work
• Evidence of safe termination protocols for individuals where violence or aggression has been an issue
• Proof that all policies and procedures are periodically updated and tested for validity

This is certainly not a complete list but it is enough to give your organization a good start at being prepared. The biggest challenge that any employer has to face is getting out of denial that this could happen to them. Waiting to respond, even effectively, after an incident has occurred is too little too late. This is good practice, not just legally, but for the safety of your employees and visitors.

Check out IMAC’s online training series on workplace violence at www.imac-training.com