Experts: Prepare Companies For Workplace Violence

By Jack Fink, CBS11tv.com

Ask many office workers and they’ll tell you, they don’t believe their company would become a target for workplace violence. But, experts say firms should start thinking more seriously about protecting their employees.

When the shooter open fired in the North Dallas office tower Monday morning, Kathy Wilson was 13 floors above. “It’s just scary to think there’s that many angry people around; that when things don’t go their way they just decide to shoot people,” she said.

Besides Monday’s shooting, there’ve been other high profile violent incidents recently: the weekend shooting at a Wal-Mart in Commerce and the deliberate plane crash by an Austin man into the IRS office there.

Audrey Mross is an attorney with the Dallas firm Munck Carter. “When it [violence] happens in a workplace, it becomes a workplace issue.” Mross often speaks about workplace violence. She says the incidents should serve as a wake-up call to companies. “There are things you can do to anticipate and protect your employees,” urged Mross. “That’s the proactive piece of it, and there’s a reactive piece too in that you need to have something in place that people know what to do when something starts happening.”

According to Mross, the employees most trained in workplace issues are those who work in convenience stores, like Quik Trip. Employees at those types of businesses, and other public places, have had to react to armed robberies and other incidents over the years.

Quik Trip spokesman Mike Thornbrough told CBS 11 News that the company also has a comprehensive training program for its workers. “It explains not just how an individual would have to deal with it, but how it works throughout the entire company; who’s responsible for what. So, there’s a whole sequence that everyone’s comfortable with.”

Officials with Dallas-based 7-Eleven say it provides extensive training to its employees.

The idea that news of the shooting wasn’t shocking is disturbing to Wilson. “It’s pretty sad; it’s not so much a shock, because it happens frequently today,” she said.

Experts say if companies don’t currently have workplace violence drills in place, they should develop them. As part of the drill, experts suggest companies formulate a plan on what employees should do during an incident and designate a location for workers to meet. Then, once at the designated meeting location managers can quickly determine those who are unaccounted for.