Threat Assessment/Violence Risk Management Services
VIOLENCE IN THE WORKPLACE
Violence in the Workplace is a serious public health problem. Employers are responsible for providing an environment for employees and consumers that is safe and free of harassment and discrimination. Failure to do so results in great human and financial costs. Employee productivity, satisfaction, and emotional/physical health deteriorate when a safe and positive work environment are not provided. Employees may become the target of threats, harassment, and violence in the workplace perpetrated by co-workers, consumers, or other outside parties. Unfortunately, violence in the workplace is not an uncommon event. Early intervention is crucial when addressing problems surrounding harassment/threats in an attempt to prevent the situation from escalating to a degree that both the employee and the company suffers. Early intervention and sound risk management strategies may protect the employer from employment related litigation.
In 2011, ASIS/SHRM published the American National Standard for Workplace Violence Prevention and Intervention recommending that organizations designate and train a multidisciplinary threat management team to resond to reports of troubling behavior or violence.
We provide a proactive threat assessment and risk management program with an emphasis on early intervention and a goal of reducing workplace violence. National models for threat management in the workplace emphasize a multidisciplinary team approach comprised of top-level management, direct management/supervisors, human resources representatives, loss prevention representatives, legal representatives, security/law enforcement, and mental health professionals. Our forensic expertise (including years of experience evaluating individuals with severe psychiatric problems who have been violent) can add a crucial element to this multidisciplinary team approach. We have extensive training and experience assessing for risk of future violence and identifying interventions.
Our threat management program would provide the following:
On call availability for threat assessment / violence risk management consultation;
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Thorough evaluation of individual mental health needs and violence risk;
Fitness For Duty Evaluation;
Training to assist employers, management, and human resources employees to recognize early signs of mental illness, pathological behaviors, and harassment/threats exhibited by employees, consumers, and others;
Training of threat assessment teams on the WAVR-21 (Workplace Assessment of Violence Risk-21) Instrument (www.wavr21.com)
Coordination of the development of policy and procedures which includes an organized and centralized risk management approach;
Debriefing in the event of a crisis.
Training on the Workplace Assessment of Violence Risk Instrument (WAVR-21)
Our consultant, Dr. Stephen White, is co-author along with Dr. J. Reid Meloy of the WAVR-21 (Workplace Assessment of Violence Risk - 21). See www.wavr21.com for more information. The WAVR-21 provides workplace Threat Management Teams and consultants with a structured and consistent approach to assessing the level of risk of workplace violence. After completing our training, the workplace threat assessment team will have a better understanding of the information needed to assess employee risk of workplace violence and will be more comprehensive in assessments. The Threat Assessment Team will learn that violence risk is dynamic or changes over time and that every step taken by the employer must be carefully planned in order to reduce risk. Our training includes case vignettes of potentially violent individuals so that the workplace threat assessment team gains experience assessing various scenarios of threat cases encountered at work.
Please feel free to contact us for further information or for a threat assessment consultation.
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Forensic Professionals, Inc. All rights reserved.