We are referring to real shooting pains here…bullet wounds…not backaches or migraines.
This August we had two scary, local examples of workplace gunplay: on August 24, near the Empire State Building, a recently fired employee shot his former supervisor and then himself. A week later, in New Jersey, an angry supermarket employee shot two customers and then himself. All five died.
What can you do?
Prevention can be assisted by recognizing the signs of impending employee violence [as outlined by Michael Staver, psychologist, cited by Susan Adams at forbes.com]: 1. Excessive complaining. 2. Withdrawal. 3. Variation from typical behavior. 4. Obsessive thought patterns or conversations. 5. Dramatic and unreasonable demands. 6. Personal insults. 7. Threats.
Sometimes, mere non-confrontational one-on-one listening to the employee’s complaints will help defuse the situation. Skilled human relations personnel can be valuable for this. On occasion. the police may need to be called…certain steps can be taken beforehand to keep it from reaching that level.
A private investigation agency can help lower your risk of workplace violence. As noted on our site, pre-screening of the employees, monitoring of their behavior, preparation for lock-down and evacuation if needed, checking on terminated employees, control of terminated employee returns to company property, added protection of management’s homes…some or all of these should be used, after a professional threat assessment has been made. For further information, contact us.
***** Don’t be nearly sure. Let Gold Shield Elite investigate. Be certain.