Introduction
Workstation violence refers to any act of harassment, physical violence, or other threatening conduct that takes place at the place of work. Workplace violence can involve and affect clients, employees, and visitors. In most workstations where risk factors can be identified, the risk of assault can be minimized and prevented if the management takes appropriate precautions (Friend and Kohn, 2018). One of the best protections company management can offer their workers is to establish a zero-tolerance policy toward workstation violence. The paper, therefore, discusses the core elements of my proposed workplace violence policy to the Chief Executive Officer of the Intellectsoft company and the Chief Legal Counsel.
A company policy would help reduce the threat of workplace violence and increase the protection of employees and the company, in case of an incident. This workplace violence policy I am proposing to the CEO and Chief Legal Counsel of the Intellectsoft company is ready to be tailored to the organization’s needs. As the security manager of the company, I want to provide our employees with a safe workplace where mutual respect is given. As a department, we as everyone to be professional and ethical at work. The policy would apply equally to all contractors, employees, clients, public visitors, and anyone else whom workers come into contact during work.
Intellectsoft should be committed to preventing workplace violence and maintaining a safe work environment. In order to achieve this, the company should adopt the following four guidelines which are the elements of the policy to deal with intimidation, harassment, and other threats that may occur onsite and offsite during work-related activities. The workplace policy is designed to provide avenues of resolution and support for employees who experience violence at work and warn of potential disciplinary consequences if one engages in violent behavior under the following four elements (Schmidt et al., 1019):
Prohibited Conduct Element
Intellectsoft should not tolerate any form of workplace violence against or by employees. Workers are prohibited from engaging in violent activities or making threats. All employees, business associates, and clients should be treated with courtesy and respect at all times. Intellect employees are expected to refrain from displaying aggressive behavior that creates a reasonable fear of injury to a co-worker or another individual to emotional distress. The company resources may not be used to harass or threaten anyone at and outside the workplace. With the exception of authorized police and security personnel, bringing firearms, weapons, and other potentially harmful devices of any kind on Intellectsoft premises while conducting any company-related functions is prohibited. This element will ensure that all employees of the Intellectsoft company are well informed and refrain from all conducts that can result in workplace violence of any kind.
Reporting Workplace Violence
All Intellectsoft employees are responsible for communicating and implementing the policy. Any potentially dangerous situations must be immediately reported to the security manager or the human resource department. No employee who initiates a complaint and incident under this policy shall be subject to retaliation. Employees should be encouraged to report safety concerns with regard to intimate partner violence. Intellectsoft should be committed to supporting victims of intimate partner violence by providing referrals to the company’s employee assistance program and community resources and providing time off for reasons related to the situation. Reports should be made anonymously, and all reported incidents will be investigated. Incidents warranting confidentiality will be handled appropriately, and information will be disclosed to others only on a need-to-know basis. The element reporting workplace violence will ensure that any act suspected to cause a place of work violence will be brought to the attention of the management and make the workstation a protected area.
Risk Reduction Measures
The security and human resource departments should take reasonable measures to conduct background investigations to review employees’ upbringings and to reduce the risk of engaging individuals with a history of violent conduct. The company should also conduct quarterly inspections of the premises to evaluate and determine any vulnerabilities to workplace violence and hazards (Fleming, 2019). Any necessary corrective actions shall be taken to reduce the risk. In dangerous situations such as when encountering an armed person, employees should not attempt to challenge or disarm the individual. Instead, the workers are expected to remain calm, cooperate and follow the instruction given. This element will ensure that there are reduced cases of workplace taking place at the company’s premises.
Disciplinary Consequences
Intellectsoft company should not tolerate threatening conduct and any other acts of aggression and violence in the workplace. Upon investigation, any employee found to be responsible for actual violence, threats or other conduct that is in violation of these guidelines will be subject to prompt disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment. For the top management team, the company does not tolerate violence. Any such behavior will trigger disciplinary action up to and including removal from boards, as well as potential criminal charges. None employees engaged in violent acts on the company’s premises will be reported to proper authorities and fully prosecuted. All supervisors and managers should be responsible to implement the company’s policies and ensure that all procedures are free of discrimination (DeCenzo et al., 2016). This will ensure that all employees are aware of the consequences they might face in case they get involved in workplace violence thus will refrain from causing it.
In summary, violence in the workstation is a multi-faced and complex issue. Intellectsoft best approach to violence includes preventing the escalation of violent behaviors and outlining the company’s anti-violence policy to all employees. While we may not be able to completely eliminate workplace violence, we can certainly decrease the number of cases and dramatically reduce the number of employees harmed using the company’s policy.
References
Friend, M. A., & Kohn, J. P. (2018). Fundamentals of occupational safety and health. Rowman & Littlefield.
