Late last year, ASIS International and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) issued a joint ASIS/SHRM Workplace Violence Prevention and Intervention American National Standard. I had the pleasure of participating as ASIS Standards and Guidelines Commission liaison co-chair with friend and colleague, Mike Crane of IPC International. The new Standard is aimed at helping organizations implement policies and practices to more quickly identify threatening behavior and violence affecting the workplace, and to engage in effective incident management and resolution.

The document reflects a consensus from professionals in the fields of security, human resources, mental health, law enforcement, and legal. It serves as an important tool to help organizations evaluate current practices; develop or enhance workplace violence prevention and intervention programs; and effectively manage post-incident issues.

Go to this page and click link

“Practitioners can use the Standard to evaluate whether their organization is taking sufficient steps to protect employees from a wide range of problematic behaviors that can compromise workplace safety,” said Rebecca A. Speer, Esq., founder and principal, Speer Associates and chair of the Workplace Violence Prevention and Intervention Standard  development committee. “It helps to answer the tough questions many security, HR, and legal professionals need to ask:  ‘Are we doing enough?’ and more importantly, ‘Are we doing the right things?’”

The Standard defines the recommended scope of an organization’s efforts to prevent and manage workplace violence; describes the key stakeholders within an organization who will be responsible for this issue; delineates the components of a workplace violence prevention and intervention program; outlines intervention techniques; and addresses post-incident issues.

“On behalf of the membership, SHRM has been very pleased with the outcome of this partnership with ASIS,” said Lee Webster, JD, MBA, SPHR, GPHR, director of HR Standards, SHRM. “Through this relationship the HR and the security communities have created an enduring and comprehensive approach for business professionals to manage the risk of violence and to better assure the safety of employees under their charge. There is no higher duty for HR professionals, which makes this work so gratifying.”

The Standard’s requirements and recommendations are broad in order to provide the necessary flexibility organizations will need to implement specific prevention and intervention strategies appropriate for their workplace needs. To download a free copy of the new standard go to http://www.shrm.org/TemplatesTools/Toolkits/Pages/WorkplaceViolenceandPrevention.aspx and click the hyperlink shown in the accompanying image.

If you have questions regarding the Standard and how your organization can best use it, please contact me at eferraro@BusinessControls.com or call me at 800.650.7005.