Workplace Violence Prevention for Your Business

In today’s society, incidents of workplace violence are unfortunately a topic of news or conversations across the country.  All businesses are vulnerable to workplace violence no matter how small or large.  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines workplace violence as violence or the threat of violence against workers that can occur at or outside the workplace and can  range from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and homicide-one of the leading causes of job related deaths.  OSHA reports that approximately two million workers are victims of workplace violence annually.  The impact of a workplace violence incident at a business can not only be deadly, but could destroy or damage employee morale, productivity and even the business itself.

Although there is no specific OSHA regulation that applies to violence in the workplace, under the General Duty Clause of OSHA, employers are required to provide their employees with a place of employment that is “free from recognizable hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm to employees”.  Therefore OSHA has interpreted this to mean an employer that has experienced acts of violence, becomes aware of threats or intimidation or other potential indicators of workplace violence has an obligation to implement a workplace violence program.  In addition to OSHA’s interpretation, employers could face liability for not taking adequate steps to prevent workplace violence. Victims often sue their employer for not adequately investigating or taking proper action against threats of workplace violence.

In order to reduce the risks of workplace violence, employers should establish and implement a workplace violence prevention program that includes the following:

• Written policy and procedures that communicates “zero” or “no” tolerance toward workplace violence.
• Required training for all employees on early warning signs and “red flags” of behaviors that contribute to workplace violence and how they should respond and report.
• Reporting and tracking mechanisms to capture threats or concerns
• A Threat Assessment/Management Team trained to investigate and take appropriate action.

A comprehensive workplace violence prevention program can be an effective way for employers to educate and prepare their employees. Workplace violence can be prevented when employees have been properly trained and have an understanding of what constitutes an act of violence and how they should respond and report these acts.

Employee Theft Prevention

Employee theft, fraud and embezzlement are also known as occupational fraud and generally reflect the full range of employee misconduct through which businesses lose money. A formal definition of occupational fraud is when someone uses his or her occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misapplication of the organization’s resources or assets.

According to the 2010 Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) “Report to The Nation on Occupational Fraud and Abuse,” a typical organization loses 5% of its annual revenue to fraud. Most notably, according to the report, small businesses are particularly vulnerable to fraud because they tend to have fewer internal controls and resources in place to protect their assets, thus increasing their risk and reducing their profits.

In addition to the ACFE’s findings, the U.S. Department of Commerce reports that 85% of all theft and fraud in U.S. businesses comes from employees and not outsiders. It also reports that employee dishonesty costs American businesses in excess of $50 billion annually; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates 75% of employees steal at least once during their employment, many being repeat offenders.

Oftentimes, the person responsible for the theft is a long-time employee who is well-liked and trusted. Sadly, some are even relatives and childhood friends of the owner or manager.
According to Cressey’s Fraud Triangle Theory, there are three factors that, when combined, lead a person to commit occupational fraud. The first is a perceived financial need, the second is a perceived opportunity and the third is the person’s ability to rationalize or justify the illegal conduct. Of the three factors, reducing or eliminating the opportunity for a person to commit fraud is usually the most effective way to reduce risk.

Additionally, there is the 10-80-10 theory, which suggests that 10% of employees will not steal no matter the opportunity, a second 10% will steal no matter what you do and the remaining 80% will steal depending on how they rationalize a given opportunity. Opportunity is the key operative point in this theory, as well.
Many investigations and internal reviews, conducted after a loss, discovered some of the same factors: lack of prevention, awareness, training and internal controls. In fact, the ACFE Report to the nation found that employee education is the foundation to preventing and detecting occupational fraud.

Given the fast pace of today’s business and the focus on running the day-to-day operations, owners and managers often do not have time to be proactive and discover the loss before it’s too late. There is some credence to the saying: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
As a manager or owner, avoid becoming a victim or another statistic. Take some time to review the checklist below to see how vulnerable your business is. Remember that taking proactive measures now can be your “ounce of prevention.”

Quick Fraud Risk Checklist
- Have you had a risk/security assessment of your business conducted recently to identify risks or outdated security measures?
- Do you have a loss prevention program? Does it consist of more than an alarm system, security cameras and access control?
- Is your business experiencing unexplained losses or inventory shortages? Have profit margins been reduced? Do you have suspicions about theft or potentially dishonest employees?
- If you suspect employee theft, drug usage or other misconduct, do you have the time or resources to investigate or respond appropriately?
- Do you have employee training programs? Do they include security, ethics and workplace violence?
- Do you have a fraud prevention program in place?

This article was recently published in the Columbia Business Monthly. It can be viewed here;

http://www.bizmonthly.com/12_2010/25.shtml

Food Legislation stalls due to constitutional disputes

By Leischen Stelter -  12.07.2010

WASHINGTON—The security of the nation’s food supply took a step forward on Nov. 30 with the U.S. Senate’s passage of the long-stalled bill to modernize food safety programs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, the bill immediately faced problems when it was discovered that one section of the bill could violate a constitutional provision that calls for any new taxes to originate in the House rather than the Senate, according to The Washington Post.

The House Ways and Means Committee is currently deciding whether or not fees imposed on importers, farmers and food processors for recalls due to contamination are the equivalent to taxes. If so, it would essentially nullify the vote by the Senate. Despite these conflicts and the now uncertain outcome of this bill, there are important measures included that could impact the way food processing plants are secured.

The Food Safety Modernization Act (S.510) is a $1.4 billion bill, among other requirements, would require food producers to develop written food safety plans that would be accessible by the government in case of emergency along with the implementation of a food-tracing system. Eileen Harley, director of federal affairs for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which has been working on this legislation for the last three years, said that this component of the bill shouldn’t cause many challenges for companies. “Most food manufacturers already have food safety plans in place, but instead this will raise the bar for the whole industry,” she said.

One of the good things from this legislation is that it defines the term “food defense,” said Bill Ramsey, a member of the ASIS Agriculture and Food Security Council, and the bill differentiates between food safety and food defense. “Food safety refers to the science behind protecting food products against unintentional contamination, whereas food defense regards the security that protects products against purposeful contamination,” said Ramsey, who is also the corporate security director at McCormick’s.

In terms of physical security requirements of the bill, Ramsey said the council hopes the legislation will set goals for securing food manufacturers instead of establishing specific standards for equipment. “The legislation should focus on what is needed to achieve food defense rather than the specific tools to achieve it,” he said. Because the industry is so large and diverse, it would be hard for everyone to comply with strict equipment requirements, for example. Large manufacturers may be able to install video surveillance and access control systems because they have more financial prowess, but that’s not true for small- to medium-size producers. “The small manufacturer can’t spend an enormous amount of money on physical security measures and find a different way to achieve the same goals,” he said.

Harley with GMA said that the language in the bill provides flexibility for different size companies. “There’s a lot of flexibility in the bill when it comes to risk analysis, and of course, every food producer is different, but the bill grants flexibility around the construction of food safety plans and what preventative measures they need to put in place,” she said.

However, something that isn’t in the bill is an effort to consolidate requirements as established by the FDA and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). “Many companies in the industry are regulated by both and there are separate guidelines and plans,” he said. The other challenge is that different companies approach meeting these guidelines differently and some view guidelines more as regulations while others consider them voluntary or suggested guidelines.

And while it is yet to be determined what the final outcome of this bill will look like, Ramsey said it’s important for the industry to adopt a wait-and-see attitude. “Not that we should not continue to build security programs as we know it, but before we start coming up with mass program changes for the industry we need to see what direction the FDA will take,” he said.

Workplace Ethics

Ethics is defined as a system of moral principles that pertain to a group, whether it is cultural, religious or a place of business.  Workplace values can be defined as a code of conduct or expectations about the employee’s behavior or actions in the organization.

Values are the building blocks of any organization.  Workplace ethics include characteristics such as honesty, respect for others, dealing justly with individuals inside and outside of the company, a caring and considerate attitude, as well as good citizenship which includes a regard for the rights of others as well as a positive and enthusiastic attitude about work, and personal responsibility for one’s actions,

Employers must do their part to make ethical expectations clear and trust the employee to deliver.  They also recognize the importance of ethical behavior. The best leaders exhibit both their values and their ethics in their leadership style and actions.  True leadership involves exhibiting the company’s ethics and values in daily actions, whether they are in the workplace or not.

Company management must ensure the work place ethics policy is understood by the employees.  Exposure to multiple training methods over the course of a year has a significantly greater impact on favorable outcomes than does exposure to a single method. Some methods to impart a company’s workplace ethics policy to its workforce include:

• A company must have a written code of conduct for all the employees to know what is acceptable and what is unacceptable behavior.

• Regular discussions or seminars on the subject of business ethics and business etiquette should be presented to all levels of employees.

• Carry out role playing exercises by using real life situations to make the ethics training program interesting and encourage active participation.

A clear and concise workplace ethics policy will promote trust, ensure teamwork, and result in a more productive work environment.