For employees,
Throughout 2021-2022, there were over 57,000 reports of workplace assault that resulted in injury, according to the National Safety Council. In a new survey from compliance training platform Traliant, one in four employees said they have
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Employers are not doing enough to establish a safe workplace culture — 30% of respondents said they have not received any workplace violence training. There is also rampant concern about the consequences of reporting an issue: Only 44% said their employer promotes a culture where incidents of misconduct can be reported without fear of retaliation, and one-third said they would only report an issue if it could be done anonymously. Another 86% said they believe their employer needs to increase their efforts around mental health resources.
"Mental health, workplace violence and harassment are intertwined," says Elissa Rossi, VP of legal compliance at Traliant. "Mental health issues can exacerbate risks for violence and harassment, and those things are bad for [other] employees' mental health."
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While industries such as healthcare, education and retail see a disproportionate level of workplace violence incidents, all businesses should make the mental health of employees a top priority to create a safer work environment. It is also important for employers to recognize potential scenarios that could lead to conflict, such as client or customer violence toward an employee, an employee's acquaintance who comes to the workplace, or internal incidents among workers, says Rossi. Each requires a different response plan, and specific training to help employees feel prepared.
California recently passed a workplace violence prevention law that will take effect on July 1, requiring all business owners to put a written workplace violence prevention plan in place, provide yearly training and record all incidents of workplace violence. The law defines workplace violence as anything that occurs in a workplace that can harm an employee physically or psychologically.
Ninety percent of Traliant's survey respondents said they believe other states should follow California's lead. While important to have legislative support behind these efforts, employers who have a strong safety policy, communicate about well-being on a regular basis and provide associated resources will create a more confident and protected workforce, says Rossi.
"Repeat it as often as you can," she says. "[Also,] demonstrate to employees implicitly that no one is being punished or retaliated against [for reporting a concern]. Drill it into managers and HR that there's nothing that even gives the appearance of retaliation."
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Outside of safety-specific policies and resources, Rossi encourages employers to lean on their employee assistance programs and provide mental health assessment tools and apps, as well as to consider appointing someone within the company who can act as a trusted sounding board, guiding workers to any resources they may need throughout their employee journey.
"We work with a number of clients that have an ombudsman — someone who is objective and does not pass on the conversations — and you can talk to them about anything from your career path to a discrimination complaint," she says. "You could conceivably have someone from HR who's conversant in what the company offers, and then give them additional skills to get them into the position."
To achieve maximum impact with all safety and wellness initiatives, there has to be buy-in from leadership, says Rossi.
"People who run the organization have to make it clear that it's important," she says. "Rather than just sending an automated email from a training system saying you have to complete the training in 30 days, have managers and the head of the company address it in an email or meeting. There's a tendency among employees to say, 'This is just required,' so pushing back on that is important."
