Workplace Violence, Threat Mitigation, and Trauma Response
Workplace violence is a global menace impacting your employees, contractors and customers. Understanding the threat generator requires a seasoned, professional expert who can assist your Human Resources, Security and Legal teams as they learn more about a threat made in person, online, at a company gathering, when working remotely or at a company function, for example. Understanding the person with a problem vs. the problem person should be made by trained professionals who have empathy for mental illness, who comprehend how grievances unresolved can blossom into an active threat, and there should be institutional guardrails to ensure you meet Duty to Care, Duty to Warn, Duty to Act and Duty to Supervise standards.
Dr. Barton has successfully managed over 3600 cases over the past 30 years for clients globally. He has testified on liability by employers who failed to take warning signals seriously, who engaged in reckless hiring or negligent retention, who did not review the protocols for their security guards and others. He has written highly praised articles for the legal, law enforcement, mental wellness and tech communities and offers highly acclaimed training academies on how to design or renew a workplace violence program, case management system and expand mental wellness and trauma recovery for those who witness an active assailant or other horrific tragedy. Often, Employee Assistance Programs have well intentioned counselors but it is often impossible to deploy them swiftly to an impacted location. We have a proven system to reach these victims rapidly, with certified skill, to accelerate their trauma recovery process. Empirical research is abundant that the sooner emotional triage can be applied, the speedier the recovery for most. When delayed or denied such intervention, the ramifications, such as after a suicide at work or attributed to the workplace, can be enormous, including is a secondary incident occurs. The author of five books on these subjects, you may wish to read Crisis Leadership Now and The Violent Person @ Work, both have been widely praised by the law enforcement, HR and security communities and are available on amazon.
SB 553 in California has rigorous demands for employers in that state on training, reporting and transparency on cases, including stress. In addition, across the United States, the OSHA General Duty Clause reveals an expectation that employers should manage threats and acts of violence with speed, diligence and skill. In much of Europe, GPDR imposes privacy guardrails, while in India, the POSH Act can lead to serious fines for employers who ignore sexual harassment and intimidation, notably to females in the workplace. In every country, nuances differ, but a global expectation is that you should demonstrate a process that informs and engages people on warning signals of a potential menace, tracks threats and incidents and benchmarks your peers. Finally, we must not ignore how artificial intelligence allows bad actors to hijack existing verbal, written and video content shared at work or home by workers and executives. Nefarious individuals and gangs can skillfully (and inexpensively) place your people and brand in seriously twisted and compromising positions (such as announcing a layoff, or announcing a pending “suicide” by someone who has no such intention). They often share disturbing and embarrassing content across various channels ro a large population with incredible ease and little recourse- unless you know how to prevent and detect such efforts.
Thus, your workplace violence platform should be more than discussing Run, Hide or Fight options and the significance of “If you see something, say something.” There are many pundits who claim to be an expert in this realm. Find the right one who understands that an interdisciplinary, non alarmist and business savvy professional can be an invaluable asset to your organizational DNA.
Thank you for striving, every day, to achieve and maintain a violence free workplace.
Crisis Prevention and Response
Almost 30 years ago, the term crisis management was rarely used. Dr. Larry Barton became a pioneer, studying the causes and response to critical incidents, offering keynote presentations and creating solutions for some of the world’s largest companies on issues related to crisis decision making and business continuity.
Most companies believe that disasters only strike their competitors. This notion of denial may be comforting, but we know that industrial accidents, sabotage, product tampering, contamination issues, product recalls, environmental incidents and other incidents can affect any company. No organization is immune to crisis.
We believe that the best crisis is the one prevented.
We urge you to adopt a “less than 50 page” crisis handbook and business continuity plan that will lift your team’s decision-making during the first critical hours of an incident. Supporting data is vital for compliance purposes—but by focusing on key decisions, rapid communications and other needs during the first eight hours of response, we can demonstrate the incredible value of discipline during and after an incident. Please consult Dr. Barton’s book, Crisis Leadership Now (available on amazon.com) for a list of questions you should ask any consultant you engage.
The Most Quoted Expert Globally on Workplace Violence and Crises
Not a source of legal or clinical advice. For more information, see Wikipedia: larry barton