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Table of Contents
From The Author... i Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Who Should Complete This Training 1 What Defusing Workplace Violence Contains 1 Why Should You Have A Trauma Response Plan? 2 Definition Of Violence 3 Chapter 2 THE TYPICAL SCENARIO OF WORKPLACE VIOLENCE 5 Definition of Acting-Out 5 The Person 5 Sociological Profile 5 Psychological Profile 7 The Environment 7 Chapter 3 PREVENTING WORKPLACE VIOLENCE 9 The People 9 Hiring Practices 10 Drug Testing 11 Management Training 13 Employee Assistance Programs 14 Psychological Fitness-For-Duty Evaluations 14 Psychological Testing 14 Outplacement Services 16 The Work Environment 16 Policies And Procedures Regarding Violence 18 Chapter 4 DEVELOPING A TRAUMA RESPONSE PLAN 21 Definition of Trauma And Crisis 21 Variables Which Affect The Impact Of A Trauma Or Crisis 22 Environmental Factors 22 Personal Or Individual Factors 22 Losses After A Trauma Or Crisis 23 Impact On The Person 23 Definition Of An Adjustment Disorder 24 Definition Of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder 25 Definition Of Critical Incident Stress Debriefing 25 Critical Incident Stress Debriefing 25 Kinds Of Trauma Teams And Team Members 27 Definition Of A Trauma Team 27 After A Trauma Or Crisis 28 Chapter 5 SAMPLE TRAUMA PLAN 31 Introduction 31 Preliminary Crisis Management Group 31 The Involved Department 33 Security Department 34 Medical Department 34 First-Line Management 35 Employee Assistance Program/Human Resource Department 36 Senior Management 38 Safety Department 41 Maintenance Department 42 Trauma Consultants/Counselors 42 Chapter 6 CASE STUDIES 47 Case One: The "Model Employee" 47 Case Two: The Laid-Off Technician 49 Case Three: The Grievance Hearing 51 Chapter 7 CORPORATE RESPONSE TO TRAUMA 55 General Guidelines For All Managers 55 Contacting The Next Of Kin 56 Handling The Death Of An Employee 56 Working With The Media Following A Critical Incident 57 Lay-offs, Downsizings, And Terminations 58 Do's & Don't's 58 Symptom Checklist For Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) 60 Physical Symptoms 60 Emotional Symptoms 60 Behavioral Symptoms 61 Appendix 65 Bibliography 93
I first became involved with violence in the workplace in August of
1989, when I was called in as part of the trauma response team following
the Escondido, California, Post Office shooting. My original intention,
when I went in to the Post Office that first day, was to volunteer a
half-day of my time, and then return to my private practice the next day.
But I was so impacted by what I saw and experienced that day, by the
quantity and quality of pain and anguish, that I returned the next day, and
every day after that for the next two weeks, to work with the survivors and
victims of this tragedy. This turned out to be unexpected on-the-job
training in trauma response to violence in the workplace.
When I finally returned to my private practice, I began researching the
literature, trying to learn everything that I could about workplace
murders. Not surprisingly, I found that many such murders are simply the
result of people being in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, from
my research and subsequent trauma experiences, I also discovered some
patterns and consistencies, within both the perpetrator and the work
environment, prior to many workplace murders.
While my original focus had been the psychological treatment of the
survivors of workplace homicide, I subsequently broadened the scope of my
attention to include prevention. It became clear to me that management
response to the warning signs, which often exist in the workplace before an
incident, could have prevented some of these workplace murders.
The purpose of this workbook is to share this information about trauma
prevention and trauma response.
Thomas D. Harpley, Ph.D.
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INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Defusing Workplace Violence. By teaming about workplace
violence, including how to prevent it and what to do if it occurs where you
work, you may significantly improve your organization, or even avoid a
tragedy.
Who Should Complete This Training
This workbook will be valuable to employers, managers, supervisors,
and human resource personnel. It provides important information about
preventing and responding to workplace violence. It focuses on the new and
increasing phenomenon of the angry and resentful employee, or former
employee, killing one or more people at the job site. The workbook
describes the type of person who is likely to commit an act of violence on
the job and warning signs to look for before these persons actually commit
violent acts. It also describes preventive steps which employers may take
to avoid workplace violence.
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What Defusing Workplace Violence Contains
This workbook supplements the four accompanying audio Teaming modules.
Together they make up the training program.
The first audio lesson provides general information about workplace
violence, including the typical scenario of what usually happens before,
during and after an instance of workplace violence. The second audio lesson
identifies warning signs to help you detect and prevent workplace violence.
In the third audio module, you will learn about a model trauma response
plan. General guidelines are provided for employers responding to workplace
violence. The fourth audio lesson provides numerous do's and don't's for
managers and employers, about preventing or responding to workplace
violence.
In this workbook you will find instructions on how to develop a trauma
response plan, with specific, step-by-step suggestions for corporate
managers, should they need to respond to violence. It includes ways to
minimize employee distress, work interruption and corporate liability. This
workbook also provides a sample trauma response plan, which clearly
delineates the responsibilities of each department in a company or
organization, should a critical incident occur in the workplace. By having
this information before a critical incident, rather than attempting to
formulate a trauma response plan after the fact - perhaps, literally, in
the midst of smoke and ashes - managers can mitigate the harmful impact of
such an incident on both the employees and the company. This sample trauma
response plan can be adapted to your organization.
Additionally, the workbook provides case studies, and important "do's"
and "don't's", based on actual workplace incidents.
Note: The information contained in this workbook provides guidelines which,
although based upon clinical experience, are not intended to replace
professional consultation.
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Why Should You Have A Trauma Response Plan?
There are numerous labor laws which protect employees from unsafe or
hazardous conditions at work, such as toxic chemicals or unsafe equipment;
but probably one of the most unrecognized health hazards is work-related
violence. The incidence of violence in the workplace has tripled over the
last decade. This trend is largely due to a new and increasingly frequent
category of killer: the disgruntled employee or former employee who is
seething with job-related resentment and bent on revenge.
Studies indicate that sixteen hundred people are murdered on the job in
the United States each year (Suplee, 1989). Homicide is the third leading
cause of occupational injury death; only motor vehicle and machine-related
accidents account for more deaths. Twelve percent of all occupational
injury deaths, and forty-one percent of all females who die due to
workplace trauma, are the result of homicide (Jenkins, et al., 1992; Bell,
1991).
Sales workers, the service occupations, and executives, administrators
and managers, are the most frequent victims of work-related homicide
(Jenkins, et al., 1992). These victims range in age from sixteen to
ninety-three. The leading causes of death are: gunshot wounds, stabbings,
strangulation, and blunt force trauma. Interestingly, although workplace
murders occur throughout the country, and now in Canada as well, most such
incidents occur in the states with the greatest labor turnover: Florida,
Texas, and California (Suplee, 1989).
In my more than twenty years of experience in working in the counseling
field, the vast majority of my efforts have involved correcting preexisting
problems. That is, most people come in for counseling to correct a problem
that already exists, rather than coming to counseling to prevent a problem
from occurring in the first place. In fact, my initial experiences with
workplace violence were also corrective, being called in to different
worksites, after incidents of violence, to treat the employee survivors/
victims.
However, from my fact-finding discussions with the employees, I soon
discovered that there appeared to be some consistencies or commonalities
within the various work settings, prior to the incidents, which appeared to
contribute to the violence. And when I later reviewed the literature on
workplace violence across the nation, I discovered that there were also
some commonalities in regard to the persons who commit these acts. Since a
person's behavior is a function of both their personality and their
environment, I concluded that this information might be applied to
preventing workplace violence.
I believe that in some instances, if employers had been aware of this
information, and responded appropriately, some of these acts of violence
might have been avoided. It is my hope now, that this information, gained
from past tragedies, will be used to prevent tragedies from happening in
the future.
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| Definition Of Violence: Violence may be defined as
any act of verbal, physical or emotional threat or
assault on a person, that causes physical or
emotional damage. In this workbook, however, I am operationally defining violence as the murder of an employee, on the job, by a coworker or former employee. |
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