Workplace Safety
Recap

Workplace safety means heeding the warning signs that are usually visible.

Everyday human behavior often simmers just below the boiling point of a violent eruption. One-third of all homicides arise from conflicts among people you know – human time bombs killing dozens of people every day nationwide. Hindsight usually reveals warning signs the victims had ignored.

Safety in the workplace requires:
• Defusing a conflict by calmly finding out what the other person wants, not blaming others or calling names, and working together to create options that will satisfy both parties.
• Not humiliating or challenging anyone if tempers flare nonetheless.
• Never ignoring any threat. Threats (by an unarmed person) are expressions of intent to inflict harm – almost always made by someone desperately distraught.
• Building a safety net before you need it.

• The Anatomy of Motive: The FBI's Legendary Mindhunter Explores the Key to Understanding and Catching Violent Criminals by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker. Scribner 1999.
• “Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher – Penguin 1991.
• 150 Things You Should Know About Workplace Security by Louis A. Tyska and Lawrence J. Fennelly. Butterworth-Heinemann 1997.
• Risky Business: Managing Employee Violence in the Workplace by Dr. Lynne McClure. Haworth Press 1996.
• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a free 20-minute video of workplace safety strategies, “Violence on the Job”. Call 800-321-OSHA (6742) to get OSHA products or advice, file a complaint, or report an emergency.
• Get Misiu Systems Real Guard Personal Security Alarm System for real estate agents at RealGuard.com.
• Pepper Spray & Devices.

Background Checks for workplace safety
Find out if someone was ever in a U.S. federal prison (assuming he’s using his real name) by calling 202-307-3126; or a state prison for a sex crime at www.fbi.gov. Or see www.CriminalSearches.com website (no fee). It also shows a map with names of anyone arrested in a specific neighborhood, and sends you e-mail alerts when someone in your life is arrested or someone with a criminal record moves in nearby. ... However, the above sources are often incomplete, and there’s no way to distinguish between people with the same name if you don’t know their birthdays (and even that date is often missing). Nevertheless, you can always hire a private detective – a simple background check usually costs $50-100.

Learn all about safety in the workplace and other areas of worker's lives:
• Workplace Safety - Overview
• Workplace Risks & Remedies: seeing warning signs before violence erupts.
• Resolving Conflicts: handling verbal threats, defusing tension, intervening in a volatile situation, and building a safety net before you need it.
• Bank & Store Robberies: minimizing the dangers.
• Real-Estate Agent Safety: protecting lone prey.
• Losing It - Petty Murders: cautionary tales of flirting with disaster for workplace, home, and outdoor safety.
• Recap & Resources (YOU’RE NOW ON THIS PAGE) for heading off trouble at work, outdoors, and home.
• Pepper Spray & Devices also provide safety at work.

Return to
Workplace Safety - Overview
Crime-Safety-Security Home Page