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Importance of Violence Prevention Policy

Once an organization has decided to address workplace violence, a policy statement to both educate and guide employees on the issue is a necessary to ensure fairness. Organizations have an inherent right and obligation to take action against employees who engage in disruptive or threatening behavior whether or not they have issued a written policy. There are several advantages to the drafting of a policy on workplace violence:

It reviews for employees at all levels of the organization what behaviors the policy covers. These may include intimidation, all forms of harassment, and other inappropriate that can be threatening.
The policy encourages employees to report such incidents, confident that there is a process in place to address these incidents.
It guides employees as to who to call, and what other steps to take in the event that they feel threatened.
Above all, a clearly written policy demonstrates senior management's commitment to dealing with both the issue and incidents as they arise.

A policy statement should convey that:

All employees are responsible for maintaining a safe work environment.
The policy covers not only acts of physical violence, but harassment, intimidation and other disruptive behavior.
The policy covers incidents directed from both inside and outside the workplace.
The organization will respond appropriately to all reported incidents.
The organization will act to stop inappropriate behavior.

Senior management will support organizational leaders at all levels of the organization in their reasonable attempts to address violent or potentially violent situations.