720 Preventing Workplace Violence

Administrative Control Strategies

Companies need to have programs in place to assist troubled employees and address managerial problems before threats or violence occur. Administrative controls include all of the following programs:

• Pre-Employment Screening. Use a job application form that includes an appropriate waiver and release (permitting the employer to verify the information reported on the application). Prior to hiring any applicant, check references and inquire about any prior incidents of violence. In addition, conduct thorough background checks and use drug screening to the extent practicable. In developing an employee screening process, remember the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and related state statutes prohibit employers from discriminating against qualified individuals with physical or mental disabilities. While federal law and judicial decisions provide that an employer may disqualify an employee who is a danger to self or others, the employer may be obliged to investigate a claim of disability to determine whether dismissal is necessary for the protection of the employee or others in the workplace.
• Employee Assistance Program. Consider providing a confidential EAP to address substance abuse, emotional, marital, and financial problems, or provide employees with a list of relevant community resources. Employees, supervisors, and managers should be actively encouraged to use these services. If an employee is going to be facing termination, for whatever reason, transition services such as EAP counseling should be considered.
• Incident Reporting. Encourage victims of threats and violence outside the workplace to notify their employers about the incident when warranted so their employers can take appropriate measures to help protect them and their co-workers from possible future incidents of violence at the worksite. Upon notification, employers should provide receptionists and other front-line personnel, having a need to know, a description or picture of the alleged offender and inform them what actions they should take in the event that the individual seeks entry or contact.
• Exit Interviews. Conduct exit interviews when employees retire, quit, or are transferred or terminated, to identify potential violence-related security or management problems.
• Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Some companies use ombudsman programs, facilitation, mediation, and other methods of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) as preventive strategies in their workplace violence programs. ADR approaches often involve a neutral third party who can assist disputing parties resolve disagreements. ADR is most helpful in workplace violence programs at the point when a problem first surfaces, i. e., before an employee's conduct rises to a level that warrants a disciplinary action. Review additional information on ADR.

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