For some, the stresses continue, and they are still waiting for “the new normal” in their lives.
A Duty of Care As property managers and owners there is a “duty of care” to provide a safe and secure work environment and to address those issues that could be seen as preventable. Of course, our tenants have this standard of care as well and must act upon it at the individual level to protect their employees, and others. It has long been understood by the FBI and those who study workplace violence (WPV), that the risk for injuries in the workplace from acts of violence come from four categories:
Type 1 – Violent acts by criminals with no connection to the
workplace. This includes acts such as robbery or another crime.
Type 2 – Violence directed at employees from those the business
provides services for (Customers, Clients, Patients, Students, etc).
Type 3 – Violence against co-workers, supervisors, managers by a current or former employee.
Type 4 – Violence committed in the workplace by someone who
does not work there but has a personal relationship with an employee – an abusive spouse or domestic partner.
The risk of Type 2 incidents is being seen in retail establishments across the country today with patrons of restaurants and grocery stores acting out, assaulting store employees, security officers and others over mask wearing requests or compliance orders in various places. These assaults are a direct byproduct of the stress created by the pandemic and are resulting in “unexpected outbursts” of violence
for which there was no prior indicator. The risk of Type 3 and Type 4 incidents is an emerging threat to the workplace from individuals we have little to no observable history on over the past 18 – 20 months. In any workplace there are supervisors and managers, co-workers and others who might observe a co-worker experience obvious signs of stress in their life. Missing work, emotional outbursts, threats against co-workers, harassing behavior, talk of weapons, or suicide. These signs provide clues to others that the individual might require intervention to help them cope with the issues they are facing. Often these behaviors are observed over a period of time and once identified are handled by Human Resources or a direct supervisor or manager. And this early intervention is key to helping the associate manage the issues affecting them more efficiently. In the most extreme cases of WPV, we see active shooter events, which generally result from an individual who is what the FBI refers to as “a grievance collector”. Someone who absorbs every slight and injustice they perceive or experience until those things result in the individual rationalizing that an act of extreme violence is their only recourse. We all experience these same slights and injustices in our daily life; traffic, a tough boss, bills, loss, a pandemic and all that has come with that, etc – but we find ways to cope with and manage these stressors. People who use extreme violence when they act out lack these coping mechanisms. In nearly all cases, there are “red flags” that others can notice and either intentionally or unintentionally interact with that person and “reset” them so they do not act out, or help them get professional assistance to resolve significant life issues that might lead them to act out. In our emerging post pandemic world, we lack the interpersonal contact with individuals to observe how the stressors in their lives might be affecting them. Suddenly, we are all just back at work, carrying all the emotional baggage collected over the past 20 months and no one knows what to expect, from whom, or when. Individuals may be “forced” to return to a workplace they are not comfortable with or they may be required to work in proximity with others and not be comfortable with that. They may have to resort to using public transit again and not be comfortable with that, or they may simply not be ready to return to this new normal. They may still be trying to cope with the stress of the past 20 months and all that they experienced during that time.
Prepare for the Potential So, what can we do? As property owners and managers, we certainly don’t have the insights necessary to address and resolve these concerns, but we can be prepared for the potential of an increase in acts of workplace violence in the months ahead.
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