Acts of violence in the workplace rarely come as a surprise, and are perpetrated by current and former employees, domestic partners of employees or, in rare cases, total strangers.

According to the CDC, nearly eight million days of paid work each year is lost due to domestic violence issues – the equivalent of more than 32,000 full-time jobs. Additionally, Firestorm’s 7th Annual Event Impact Management Report revealed 16% of respondents activated their crisis plans in 2017 due to a gun scare/disgruntled employee.

Apart from the hours lost and activated plans, lives are lost and changed forever when violence enters the workplace.

You may not know what problems employees are facing at home, but identifying changed behavior at work is imperative. It is critical that organizations do all they can to identify employees who need help, and intervene with trained resources that will provide the counseling and case management the individual needs. By intervening when warning signs are exhibited, even before an act of violence occurs in the office, a serious episode of violence can be mitigated.

Read the full article via Firestorm.