Workplace Violence and Active Threat Training Program

Violence in the workplace or active threats to organizations is a serious safety and health issue. Its most extreme form, homicide, is the fourth-leading cause of fatal occupational injury in the United States. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), there were 521 workplace homicides in the preliminary count of 2009 in the United States, out of a total of 4,349 fatal work injuries.

The Peachtree City Police Department would like to announce a new on-site training program for all businesses and agencies in Peachtree City. This training program involves a site inspection with recommendations, practical exercises to educate employers and employees in order to minimize the likelihood of violence in the workplace by being alert to the indicators of active threats, and effective ways to deal with potentially dangerous situations.

The program offered by the Peachtree City Police Department will:

  1. Endorse the organization’s commitment to providing a safe workplace
  2. Assist in identifying site-specific risk assessments, including all significant identified risk factors, such as high-risk activities and tasks, dangerous locations, and times of day when the risk of violence is increased.
  3. Identify techniques on how to recognize and avoid potentially violent situations, including de-escalation techniques and other specific agency policies and procedures
  4. Educate on the importance of reporting all incidents, including threats and verbal assaults and how to report such incidents
  5. Identify where employees can go for assistance during a dangerous situation

Workplace violence can be any act of physical violence, threats of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening, disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site. Workplace violence can affect or involve employees, visitors, or contractors. A number of different actions in the work environment can trigger or cause workplace violence. It may even be the result of non-work-related situations such as domestic violence or "road rage." Workplace violence can be inflicted by an abusive employee, a manager, supervisor, co-worker, customer, family member, or even a stranger. Whatever the cause or whoever the perpetrator, workplace violence is not to be accepted or tolerated. However, there is no sure way to predict human behavior and, while there may be warning signs, there is no specific profile of a potentially dangerous individual. The best prevention comes from identifying any problems early and dealing with them

For more information on how your business or organization can have this free training program presented contact Sgt. Courtney Lumpkin via email or at 770-632-4114.

Video of active threat and active shooter training exercises