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Providing EAP services to workers and dependents 24 hours per day can be an immense help during critical times. Companies should remind managers and workers about the ready availability of assistance from the EAP on a 24 hour basis.
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Providing supervisory training on: how to identify and refer people with problems; conflict resolution; perpetrator profiles; warning signs; intervention techniques and termination procedures. Training can be brief, concise, comprehensive, inexpensive and even fun. And if any employer is ever concerned that violence prevention training is an unnecessary expense, just consider the cost of not having it at all. “The cost of providing training for employees to prevent workplace violence is not as high as the cost of not providing it.” Hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent just settling lawsuits arising out of workplace violence incidents and millions more are spent if the jury finds against you. Should your organization ever fall prey to a violent incident, it’s entirely possible to mitigate the damages against you by demonstrating to the court that you acted with due diligence and in good faith by providing your employees with the awareness necessary to recognize and deal with the threat against them.
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Formal assembling of Threat Management Teams to assess and respond to any potential for violence. Provide special training for the Threat Management Team, conducted by a competent professional in preventing workplace violence.
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Conducting an organizational needs assessment. This is a confidential survey that looks at people and organizational components at all levels as well as objective factors that relate to potential for violence. These components include, but are not limited to: Policies and Procedures, Threat Management Team, Screening process for new hires, Providing “Venting Programs” such as grievance procedures and open door policies, Employee feelings of security, Use and promotion of the EAP, and Termination Procedures.
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Conducting an organizational security vulnerability assessment that evaluates physical layout, security practices areas of vulnerability and potential of threat from outside the organization. When you think you’ve done everything right, continue to evaluate your organization for improvement.
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Conduct thorough pre-employment screening and drug test all new hires.
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If a traumatic event occurs at the workplace or with an associate, call the EAP to coordinate a critical incident response. Violence breeds violence and humans respond in a variety of ways to traumatic events. Debriefings identify and assist those who need outlets for their reaction to traumatic events.
Source: First Sun EAP