Workplace Threat Risk Assessments

TLDR

• Workplace threat risk assessments help create safer environments for both staff and clients.
• Looking at risks from different perspectives can uncover root causes and lead to better solutions.
• When organizations understand concerns more clearly, they can reduce risk while staying true to their values and service goals.

How can we create a sense of safety for everyone without compromising the sense of safety for some?

Questions We Should Ask

In the helping professions, we go to great lengths to help people feel safe in our environments. We consider wall colours, music, the office layout, safety and security, and more. Yet sometimes we are faced with some challenging questions:

• How can we create a sense of safety for everyone without compromising the sense of safety for some?
• How do we walk the line of welcoming, caring and compassionate while avoiding unnecessary vulnerability?

3 Reasons Regular Workplace Risk Assessments Matter

1. Safety First: Protecting the People You Serve

A workplace threat risk assessment (WTRA) helps protect both your staff and your clients. When you complete a WRA, you will receive various measures you can consider and implement to increase safety and comfort for everyone.

As these measures are implemented, you will find that your staff, clients, and even members of the broader community often notice and give you feedback along the way. Ultimately, the goal is for everyone to feel as safe as possible in the environment you provide, whether it’s a workplace or a service setting. When staff and clients feel safe, they have confidence and capacity to thrive.

2. Seeing Risk Through a Wider Lens

Completing a WTRA increases your overall understanding of the safety needs of your clients, staff, environment, and community. The process typically involves identifying potential threats, analyzing the associated risks, and recommending strategies to prevent incidents, improve preparedness response, and support effective critical incident debriefing should something happen.

Invariably, as organizations go through the WRA process and examine threats from different angles, they start to increase awareness and gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of the people they serve. This almost always reveals new perspectives and impacts that they may not have previously considered. In turn, these insights can lead to improvements in workflows,  processes, and service delivery.

3. Finding Solutions That Actually Work

Finally, a good WTRA helps you create the necessary controls for the issues that come up, while considering the unique needs and values you have as an organization. There’s nothing worse than implementing a solution that creates new problems while failing to resolve the original one.

An assessment helps clarify the actual concerns and allows organizations to test solutions that will effectively reduce the risk and respect organizational values. The result is a safer environment, more effective controls, and a more thoughtful approach to supporting both staff and clients.

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De-escalating Potentially Violent Situations Training

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The Right Solution Starts with Better Understanding

I delivered a workshop for a company that shared with me that they’d been experiencing frequent escalations and outbursts from frustrated clients. Things were getting so bad that some staff went on stress leave, many dreaded coming into work, and the organization’s reputation started to suffer.

The strategies they implemented at first were what you’d expect. They limited contact with the public, hired a security guard, locked the doors, put up signs about respectful behaviour, and moved to an appointment-only service.

This isn’t to say that any of the above-mentioned strategies are bad or ineffective approaches to increasing safety and security – under the right circumstances, these can be effective safeguards. However, for this organization, these tactics didn’t improve things. Considering the clients they served and the values they espoused, these methods weren’t consistent with who they wanted to be, and ultimately, they made their services less accessible for the people who needed them most.

So, they took a step back, looked deeper at the perceived threats, and made some striking discoveries. People weren’t becoming escalated because they were violent or had ill intentions – they were becoming frustrated by long wait times, confusing processes, and a lack of communication.

Once the organization better understood what was leading to the outbursts, they implemented simple solutions to address these concerns. As a result, they greatly reduced the frequency of outbursts while simultaneously increasing client satisfaction. They found they could remove some of the barriers they had put in place, such as the security guard and appointment-only service, and be more consistent with their values of being an open and welcoming organization.

When staff and clients feel safe, they have confidence and capacity to thrive.

So, Where Do You Begin?

Start by talking with some of your employees and clients. How do they feel in your workplace? Do they feel safe and comfortable? How about when they come and go from work? Do their interactions with clients, staff, and the public feel safe?

These initial conversations will help you establish a baseline understanding of how safe people are feeling. You may be able to make some quick and easy adjustments to address concerns that come up in these conversations. If there are significant concerns and you need the support of a third party, CTRI can conduct a workplace risk assessment and deliver staff training, such as our De-escalating Potentially Violent Situations workshop. When you complete regular WTRAs you’ll ensure your staff and clients feel safe and comfortable in the workplace and can fully focus on the important and impactful work your organization delivers every day.

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Key Takeaways

• A workplace threat risk assessment (WTRA) helps improve safety and comfort for both staff and clients.
• Looking at risks from different perspectives can reveal new insights about client experiences, workflows, and service delivery.
• The assessment process helps organizations identify threats, analyze risks, and improve preparedness and response.
• Effective solutions come from understanding the actual causes of concerns rather than making assumptions about threats or behaviour.
• Talking with employees and clients about how safe and comfortable they feel is an important first step in identifying workplace safety needs.

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Still Curious?

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