Center for Personal Protection and Safety (CPPS)

Employers are responsible for protection of their infrastructure and data no matter where the work environment is. It is therefore incumbent upon them to ensure the protection of data and “Intellectual Property” through: • Employee Training • Cyber & Information Security Protocols and Redundancies • Strongly consider providing company software and hardware for WFH employees

Yes, there is no reason to believe that all staff frustrations will disappear during this phase. In fact, they may escalate for some employees. Therefore, it is imperative that Employers—through their managers and supervisors—maintain effective communication and practice “Empathic Leadership.

Here as some potential examples: • Formal WFH violence prevention policies and procedures • Guidance on home safety self-assessments, such as CPTED • WFH specific Emergency Action Plans (EAPs) • WFH specific WFH Threat Awareness (e.g., recognition, reporting, assessment and management • WFH specific Incident Reporting Procedures

The short answer is yes! But with caveats, such as: • Whether the vaccine is fully approved for use, (Emergency Use Approvals may not apply) • A vaccination mandate specific policy is in place and approved by the Employer • So long as no recognized/valid excuse for noncompliance, (e.g., A recognized Religious, Medical, Philosophical) is offered.

The overall liability for employers has at least stayed the same and in many cases has increased in Virtual WFH environments. In the case of Acts of Violence, to include Suicidal Ideation, the standard continues to be: • Did the Employer know, or reasonably should have known of the possibility of potential violence with their staff in a WFH environment? • And, what, if anything, was done to mitigate or respond to it?

Yes, across the board albeit in different ways. For example, in some small business environments, this frustration has resulted in either strong protestation, self-modification and/or ignoring the pandemic related safety practices, and has even resulted in violence. For white collar workers particularly, but for all categories as well, we’ve seen a spike in frustration and behavioral escalation incidents, to include acts of violence (some of it extreme).

By recognizing that Virtual Work from Home environments are here to stay and crafting policies and procedures that reflect that reality.

In addition to all the standard policies and procedures for the physical workplace, WFH safety and security topics should include: • Tell WFH employees about risk & what to do... • Reporting Procedures (Emergency & Non-emergency) • How to handle the potential for “Duress Situations” • Regular communication (i.e., daily check-ins) to ensure employee wellbeing

It’s dependent on the resources available, although everybody in the organization still has the responsibility to receive the core training outlined in the Standard, when first hired and then periodically. For example, threats may still occur across digital platforms, personnel may portray concerning behavior to colleagues online, or intimate partner violence may be increased due to longer time spent at home. For others, potential added stress from working at home for an extended period may result in concerning behaviors that could spill into the workplace when it may be time to return to an office environment.

A multi-national perspective has traditionally not been overly concerned with the Standard; however, recent years have been experiencing change in this area. ASIS International’s influence is increasing globally and certain countries have certain workplace violence prevention and intervention requirements, to include legislative mandates. Although, where legislation is not existing, the Standard serves as a qualitative basic level for implementing WVPI strategies. To standardize a program globally, it may best suit your organization to implement globally the most stringent requirements that may otherwise only apply to singular countries.

Get policies and procedures at a headquarters level and then begin to extend it to other facilities around the globe. Working with legal is important for this process because other countries around the world have workplace violence legislation in existence. For example, prevailing guidance in the United Kingdom includes Run, Hide, Tell for Active Assailant Response, rather than the United States Run, Hide, Fight guidance. Further, perhaps calling the program something other than a workplace violence prevention and intervention may better fit the culture of international locations because acts of terror also have application to WVPI. Lastly, illustrating case examples violence internationally, to include those in public areas, may help identify that similar problems are occurring globally, and this program entails an overall commitment to personnel safety and security.

No. SHRM is no longer a Standards developer. However, Human Resources, as well as other disciplines were involved in the development of the new Standard.

The principles of the Standard apply to organizations of all sizes and industry. Smaller organizations may notice differences in how they establish a Threat Management Team, for example. While larger organizations may have several personnel from multiple disciplines like Security, HR, Facilities, legal, etc., smaller organizations may have only a couple stakeholders on the team.

Even though the likelihood of an extreme violence event in the workplace is low, the odds of having a workplace incident occur is commonplace. Almost 2 million American workers become victims of workplace violence each year, ranging from verbal bullying to homicide, with the vast majority of incidents being unreported either out of embarrassment, fear of retaliation, or simply because the employees do not know they should report an incident. Homicide is the leading cause of workplace death for women, largely due to links to domestic violence and intimate partner violence, and the second leading cause of workplace death for all workers.

There are five key areas for an organization to consider in developing and maintaining a Workplace Violence Prevention Program: • Executive team commitment; • A workplace violence prevention policy; • Awareness training for all employees; • Tailored manager and supervisory-level training; and • A multi-disciplinary threat management team that is trained as a team

CPPS recommends a “No Threats, No Violence” policy. With zero tolerance policies, employees may be less willing to report violations when they know a single violation may cost a co-worker their job. Likewise, automatic zero tolerance discipline may violate an employer’s pledge to demonstrate real corporate values. Language such as, “Threats, threatening conduct, or any other acts of aggression or violence in the workplace will not be tolerated” may serve organizations better.

There are four conditions that must be met. First, there must be a hazard that employees are exposed to; second, the hazard must be recognized (employer knows or should know it exists); third, the hazard could cause (or has caused) serious injury or death; and fourth, the hazard must be correctable (something the employer reasonably could have done to prevent it).

In the same manner the company handles a threat from another employee. The vendor or customer must be investigated and, if true, be made aware that the company will not tolerate that type of threatening behavior toward employees, which could result in the possibility of separating the vendor or a customer. Teaching employees de- escalation techniques will help increase their awareness of where and how risk can present itself and help them to prevent, mitigate, or manage a heated encounter. A mastery of de-escalation skills is a critical component in this process.

It begins with awareness, training, and understanding how to recognize and report Behaviors of Concern. If you see something concerning, report it immediately. In almost every incident of workplace violence, there were Behaviors of Concern leading up to the incident. Employers who have established multiple reporting avenues, to include an anonymous means, are promoting both prevention and appropriate response to workplace violence.

There are four categories of workplace violence—criminal intent, customer/client, worker-on-worker, and personal relationship, to include domestic violence spillover into the workplace which accounts for 21% of the incidents.

At this time, OSHA does not require employers to implement workplace violence prevention programs, but it provides voluntary guidelines (CPL 02-01-058) and may cite employers for failing to provide a workplace free from recognized serious hazards Some states, to include CA, CT, IL, MD, MN, NJ, and OR, have legislated that employers develop a program while the majority of states have advanced laws that amend existing statute for assault. HI passed a resolution urging employers to develop and implement standards of conduct and policies for managers and employees to reduce workplace bullying and promote healthful and safe work environments. In 2011, ASIS/SHRM published American National Standard outlining processes and protocols to help identify and prevent threatening behavior and violence affecting the workplace.

Just the opposite is true—rather than traumatizing employees, they feel more empowered as they become stakeholders in their own safety and security.

The best approach is to create a culture of trust, respect, transparency, and safety. Tackle the issue proactively, in a mindful not fearful manner, with clear policies and guidelines about how employees can report concerns and how those concerns will be addressed.