The initial assessment required under Bill 168 of the potential risks of harassment and violence must also take into account conditions common to similar workplaces, says Mahoney. “Employers should consider what other similar workplaces do, and not just to look at the particulars of their own sites. The idea is to look at best practices in the industry.”

Implementing measures for summoning immediate assistance is an absolute requirement for all employers, says Edwards. “They’ll need some sort of call button, device or procedural mechanism. Sectors such as retail already have this in place, but industrial facilities, construction projects and others don’t.”

The heart of the program is the process employers will put in place to allow workers to report incidents and complaints. “Organizations should consider if they want a confidential process, or if they want to involve the safety committee.”

By law, a master policy needs to be posted prominently in the workplace by June 15.

Training and program elements
Employers must also have a program in place to train employees annually once the assessment is complete and the policy is established, says Mahoney. “This is like a fire drill, except it’s for violence prevention.  Employers need to establish a process for employees and train them so they know how to react if they perceive the potential for a violent act.”

For example, staff who work late at fast food restaurants need to know what they should do and what the company’s protocol is to minimize the potential violence against them if a criminal comes in with a gun, a customer tries to assault them, and so on.

According to Bill 168, training should be provided to all employees to address both violence and harassment. “We urge employers to look at workplace violence as a continuum,” says Bill Badzmierowski, director of instructor services at the Crisis Prevention Institute, an international training firm based in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

Employers should consider their company’s culture, as many situations that start as discourtesy and incivility in the workplace can escalate into more serious words and acts. Most incidents of employees “going postal” have precursors in conflicts and verbal exchanges, and there are often indicators in the way people behave that should raise alarms.

“If someone gets in your face, your first impulse is to talk or hit back. But there are other things you can do and most people don’t know what they are. How close you stand to the person, your body language and facial expressions make a big difference. There are practical ways to train employees to defuse a situation and prevent its escalation,” says Badzmierowski.

While all staff need to receive training about policies and procedures, managers will need additional guidance about how to respond and deal with situations when their staff come to them with complaints about harassment or an employee’s behaviour indicates there’s a problem. 

“The last thing most managers want to do is get involved in interpersonal spats with employees. So they often get themselves into trouble by improvising a response to a situation that could result in lawsuits for the company,” says Mahoney.

For example, many workplaces tolerate the inappropriate behaviour of long-standing employees, but this is often not acceptable to new or younger employees who perceive it as harassment. Trouble may come if a manager advises new employees to shrug it off or reassigns them elsewhere to avoid interactions with the individual, he says.

“The minute managers do that, the company’s jumped into a pot of boiling water from a legal perspective, because it hasn’t done anything to address the perpetrator’s conduct.”

Mahoney recommends training managers first on Bill 168 requirements, then training staff later. “They should be familiar with what they’re required to do, then they’ll know the lay of the land when it comes time to train employees.”

The new OHS legislation includes a history of violence provision in the training section, says Edwards. While not strictly a training issue, it’s about disseminating information.

“The employer has a duty to provide information to workers about someone who may be in the workplace — a co-worker, patient, client — with a history of violence if it comes to their attention. Employers have to tell them the specifics without disclosing too much personal information.”