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.

Non-Physical Workplace Violence

When you think of workplace violence, do you think of physical assault?

Did you know that some workplace violence can be non-physical?

Some examples of non-physical workplace violence:

• Verbal threats — Examples of verbal threats are “watch your back,” or “I know where you live.”
• Harassment — Can include unwanted attention or actions that persist, even after you have told the harassing person that their behavior makes you uncomfortable.
• Intimidation — Examples of intimidation – when a coworker sabotages your work, interferes with your ability to work properly, or corners you.
• Bullying — Can include spreading rumors, talking about coworkers in a negative way, pulling targeted pranks, or giving undeserved criticism.
• Stalking — Can be as simple as someone hanging around your workspace for no work-related reason, purposefully leaving the workplace at the same time as you, or following you home.

To learn more about workplace violence preparedness, visit our website.

Learn the Realities of Workplace Violence with TPOP’s Workplace Violence Preparedness Training

Workplace violence affects workers, clients, customers, and visitors. Provide a safer environment for all with TPOP’s workplace violence preparedness training. This training will teach you and your staff about situational awareness, verbal de-escalation, response to injury, and more.

Don’t let the risk outweigh your preparedness. Believing that it won’t happen to you or your organization can significantly reduce your ability to prevent, manage, or survive a violent situation.

Contact TPOP today to more confidently face workplace violence.

The Types of Workplace Violence

What is workplace violence?

How can workplace violence be identified?

Workplace violence is described as violence or threats of violence against workers consisting of verbal threats and abuse, physical threats or attacks, and homicide that result in injury, property damage, fear, or work impediment. There are physical and non-physical types of workplace violence.

Physical acts of workplace violence:

• Physical threats —Pounding desks, slamming doors, throwing things, and similar actions are examples of physical threats of violence.
• Attacks — Includes slapping, punching, kicking, pushing and homicide.
• Active shooter events — The deadliest type of workplace violence. The assailant will usually aim to kill as many people as possible within a short time frame.

To learn about non-physical workplace violence, visit our website.

Learn the Realities of Workplace Violence with TPOP’s Workplace Violence Preparedness Training

Workplace violence affects workers, clients, customers, and visitors. Provide a safe environment for all with TPOP’s workplace violence preparedness training. This training will teach you and your staff about situational awareness, verbal de-escalation, response to injury, and more.

Don’t let the risk outweigh your preparedness. Believing that it won’t happen to you or your organization can significantly reduce your ability to prevent, manage, or survive a violent situation.

Contact TPOP today to more confidently face workplace violence.

Prevent Active Shooter Events by Speaking Up

Is your workplace secure?

Want to prevent workplace violence?

There are often changes in a person’s behavior before they commit violence. Two potential indicators of impending violence are:

Extreme emotions ‒ These emotions can manifest themselves as depressive and withdrawn behavior, intense anger or hostility, or disconnected and robotic behaviors. Bullying, harassment, and confrontational behavior can also increase.

Making threats ‒ Threats themselves count as workplace violence, and when their frequency increases over time, violence may follow. Threats like, “something bad may happen to you,” or “watch your back,” must be taken seriously.

If you see something, say something. Report concerns to your supervisor, HR department, or security. Do not accuse the offender to their face. This may agitate them.

To learn more about active shooter prevention, visit our website.

Prevent Violence: Active Shooter Preparedness

Steps can be taken to diminish and mitigate active shooter events. In the Virginia Beach shooting, there were many signs leading to the assailant’s attack. Along with other red flags, the assailant was posting negative sentiments about the company online. If this behavior was reported, the event might have been prevented.

TPOP’s active shooter preparedness training can teach you and your employees more behavioral indicators and verbal de-escalation techniques to prevent workplace violence. You will also learn situational awareness, the Run Hide Fight methodology, and how to respond to injuries.

Contact TPOP today to increase the security of your workplace.

How to Observe and Report Anomalous Behavior

Have you ever experienced concerning behavior from a co-worker?

Want to know how to respond?

It’s rare that people just snap. People experiencing extreme stress and emotions will often show signs of violent behavior before committing a violent act. This is called the “pathway to violence,” and it’s on this pathway that people exhibit behaviors and traits that are inconsistent with their normal behavior.

These include:

Increased use of alcohol and drugs ‒ Potentially violent individuals are already having trouble handling their emotions and stress. The use of alcohol and drugs can make this worse.

Changes to typical behavior ‒ Extroverts may become more introverted, seeming more withdrawn and remote. Introverts may become extroverted, seeming overly boisterous or even aggressive.

If anything about their behavior seems unusual, or similar to the indicators above, you need to act. Ask what your company’s HR policies and guidelines are for situations like these. Pay attention to your coworkers and monitor their behavior.  Report concerns to your supervisor, HR department, or security.

For more behavioral indicators, visit our website.

Prevent Violence: Active Shooter Preparedness 

TPOP’s active shooter preparedness training can teach you and your employees more behavioral indicators and verbal de-escalation techniques to mitigate workplace violence. You will also learn situational awareness, the Run Hide Fight methodology, and response to injury.

“TPOP covered all of our workplace violence topics in one course. What used to take three to four hours now takes less than one. Perfect.”

Contact TPOP today to increase the security of your workplace.

How Does Verbal De-Escalation Use Nonverbal Communication?

Did you know verbal de-escalation involves more than just speaking?

Want to prepare yourself and practice de-escalation now?

Verbal de-escalation is the process by which a person in an agitated state can be “talked down” and spoken to in a way to help defuse the situation. This also includes nonverbal communication.

Be aware of your body language ‒ Even though you are verbally de-escalating, your nonverbal communication is just as important. Relax your body, stand as you normally would with your hands unclenched and visible. If you’re tense, the aggressor may notice and recognize that you don’t have full control over your emotions. Keep a healthy distance away from them, as being too close can increase their agitation.

Think clearly and calmly ‒ Put all your focus into the situation at hand. It may be hard, but don’t let your mind race; that will interfere with your ability to properly evaluate the situation as it unfolds and to make smart decisions. A racing mind can also be detected through body language. If it appears that you aren’t truly giving all your attention to the aggressor, they may become more agitated.

Visit our website to learn how active listening can aid in verbal de-escalation.

Prevent violence with TPOP’s verbal de-escalation training

Do you want to protect your staff from workplace violence?

TPOP’s verbal de-escalation training can teach you and your staff how to properly respond to potentially dangerous interpersonal confrontations. You’ll learn situational awareness, how to respond to agitation with empathy, detailed de-escalation techniques, and the threat protocol response.

Give your employees the knowledge and confidence to manage workplace conflict before it turns into workplace violence.

Call us today at 833-723-3893 or fill out a contact form to discuss your company’s training needs.

Actions You Can Take to De-Escalate a Situation

 Do you want to be prepared to eliminate threats?

Want to understand aggression and empathy?

What is verbal de-escalation? Verbal de-escalation is the process by which a person in an agitated state can be “talked down” and spoken to in a manner that can defuse the situation. It can help the person toward a more reasonable state of mind and reduce the potential threat.

You can minimize threats by noticing the situation as it begins, actively listening, and empathizing with the aggressor.

Be situationally aware ‒ By being situationally aware, you can notice anomalies like volume of voice, the distance between people and body language. If you see something that isn’t normal for your environment, you have the chance to report or  de-escalate, potentially preventing violence in the workplace.

Actively listen without judgement ‒ Violent behavior is usually triggered by stress, anxiety, depression, and other emotional issues. You might not agree with the aggressor, but don’t minimize their struggles. Show a little empathy and truly listen to their concerns without judgement. This can make them feel they are being heard and understood, which can calm them down. Make direct eye contact with them and nod your head to show you are listening. Ask questions when necessary to show that you’re engaged.

To learn more verbal de-escalation techniques, visit our website.

Prevent violence with TPOP’s verbal de-escalation training

Do you want to protect your staff from workplace violence?

TPOP’s verbal de-escalation training can teach you and your staff how to properly respond to potentially dangerous interpersonal confrontations. You’ll learn situational awareness, how to respond to agitation with empathy, detailed de-escalation techniques, and the threat protocol response.

Give your employees the knowledge and confidence to manage workplace conflict before it turns into workplace violence.

Call us today at 833-723-3893 or fill out a contact form to discuss your company’s training needs.