Safety Seminar Teachers Work, School Violence Prevention

May 20, 2008 3:44 PM

An estimated 2 million Americans will be affected by workplace violence this year, according to the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration. In addition, according to safety professionals, many of these incidences could be prevented with proper training and awareness.

Recently, the Niagara Frontier chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers helped get the word out by hosting "The Psychology of Violence Prevention," a seminar aimed at helping citizens identify and prevent violent outbreaks at work, school and in the community.

"We all read the news and look at what's going on in society," Tom Weisbeck, a certified safety professional and member of the society, told The Buffalo News. "We need to recognize there are potentially violent people out there, and we need to take steps to intervene and short circuit that behavior before someone goes postal."

The seminar addressed the psychology of violent behavior, how to identify and evaluate threats and hazards contributing to that conduct, and strategies and programs that could be put into place to prevent dangerous outbursts.

The seminar emphasized the "five D's of violence prevention":

--Citizens must stop "denying" there is a possibility of violence in the workplace.

--They must "deter" attackers from choosing their workplace as a target -- perhaps with armed guards.

--They must "detect" the worst thing that could happen and then prepare for it.

--They must "delay" an attacker's effectiveness by having a practiced system in which workers lock themselves away from danger and call police.

--In taking these steps, citizens can hope to "defeat" violent attackers.

According to The Buffalo News, the seminar covered a range of situations, from the isolated attacks of one co-worker assaulting another to large-scale violence, such as the widely publicized school and workplace shootings that have taken place around the country.

Also discussed was the role of media in violence, and whether the widespread publicity given to attackers in workplaces and schools makes others like them more likely to strike.

About 100 human resource personnel, school administrators, police officers and safety professionals attended the event at the Hilton Garden Inn in Cheektowaga, N.Y.

Lt. Col. (Ret.) David Grossman, who administered the seminar, is the founder and director of Killology Research Group, a consulting firm that examines the psychological causes and effects of violent human aggression.

"We teach people what to do when a fire happens, and now I'm afraid we have to teach them what to do when violence happens," Grossman says. "[Aggressors] will come for the weakest link, and we can't make ourselves soft targets."

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