Is Workplace Violence the New Normal?

Have you noticed that people seem to have shorter fuses?

How is that affecting the service industry?

Today, a growing number of service employees' shifts involve being yelled at, threatened, and often being forced to de-escalate conflicts. It seems that at any inconvenience, no matter how small, the new response is to act with anger. While unpleasant to deal with, these behaviors aren’t dangerous, right?

Wrong. The rudeness service workers are facing currently can escalate into violence, and this isn’t likely to go away anytime soon. According to an article from TIME, “Americans appear to have forgotten their manners, especially with those whose job it is to assist them.” People are experiencing massive escalations, such as a Philadelphia fast food customer pulling out a gun after being asked to order their food online and a California woman attacking a flight attendant, knocking out her teeth.

How can rude behavior lead to violence?

People usually don’t just snap, they often exhibit concerning behaviors over time before becoming violent. This is called “the pathway to violence.” Some early behaviors you might see in the service industries are paranoia, belief in conspiracies (can include COVID and mask wearing conspiracies), blaming others – such as employees when they aren’t at fault – intense anger and hostility, threatening employees, harassment, and creating unnecessary confrontations. These are all signs of imminent violent behavior.

What Can You Do? Provide Workplace Violence Prevention Training

Now, more than ever, workplace violence prevention training is a must. It can protect your staff, prepare them for potentially violent situations, and mitigate risks. Not to mention, you have a duty to protect your staff as set forth in the OSHA General Duty Clause.

With TPOP’s workplace prevention training, your staff will learn to de-escalate situations, recognize workplace violence, be aware of their surroundings and much more. If there’s anything TIME made clear, it’s that these behaviors aren’t going away anytime soon.

Prepare your workplace for violence. Contact TPOP today.