Scott A. Smith, MPA, ASP Loss Control Representative Certified ALICE Program Instructor

Workplace Violence Some Questions: Are workplaces experiencing more violence and fatalities? Causation – How are workers dying? What are the main types of workplace violence? How can employees prepare and respond to acts of workplace violence?

Bureau of Labor Statistics Workplace fatalities for 2014 Calendar year and previous years.

Bureau of Labor Statistics Causation of Fatalities

Lets Talk About Preparing and Responding to Workplace Violence You don’t need to obsess about the issue. More likely to be hit by lightning or drown in a swimming pool. You should pay attention to your surroundings. Rely on your instincts: Fight or Flight. Any action beats no action.

Be Alert and Pay Attention If something seems “off” or “strange” – Don’t ignore it. Report it. In Active Shooter situations, the killer will scout the targeted site several times. They will have a game plan and be very calm during incident. In emotion-based intruder situations, the intruder is often very emotional and can possibly be “talked down.” Easier to distract. Put in place a Crisis Response and Management Plan. Consider conducting Hostile Intruder Training for your employees.

Can Employees Respond Effectively to a Hostile Intruder Incident? YES! By alerting and informing others. YES! By evacuating the facility. YES! By knocking intruders off their plan of attack. YES! By effectively barricading themselves against attackers. YES! By countering aggression through distraction and return aggression. The key is to change the rules of the game.

How do we evacuate? By actively communicating where the intruders are – provides info on where they are not. Get out however you can. Active Shooters rarely, if ever, chase or target anyone outside the facility.

How do we barricade? Don’t just close and lock the door and turn off the lights. Make entry as difficult as possible. Intruders know time is working against them. Make getting at you too hard and time consuming.

How do we counter? Distract, Distract, Distract. Make OODA Loop work for you. Throw anything at intruder or away from them. Swarm the intruder. Immobilize Take down Hold

Get Your Head In The Game Accept reality: This is happening – ACT! It will take law enforcement several minutes to arrive on scene. -YOU are the first responder. Buy time. Time means lives saved. Save yourself first.

Outcomes Incidents end when Law Enforcement confronts intruders (40% - Death by suicide or by LEO.) Incidents end when targets gain upper hand and use applied force. (46% of the time.) In less than 1% of the active killer incidents did the attacker flee. Taking action saves lives.

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