Although a person can avoid exceptionally dangerous situations, they cannot feasibly avoid work. You do not need to live in fear, but workplace violence does exist. Luckily, Eilene Zimmerman recently answered questions about danger signals at work and how to handle them. She answered 6 questions. I quote one of them here:
Q. What indicates that a colleague might become violent?
A. The most common red flag is unusual behavior. Examples may include an outgoing colleague who suddenly becomes withdrawn and angry, or a normally quiet, easygoing worker who is now outspoken and overexcited. Personal trauma — a financial loss or a death in the family — can also push someone to the edge, as can substance abuse.
Employees often recall these kinds of signals only after violence has occurred. “They will describe the co-worker in terms like ‘ticking time bomb,’ ” even though they did nothing about it, said Jerald Jellison, a professor of social psychology at the University of Southern California who specializes in interpersonal relations.
Read entire Q&A by Eilene Zimmerman.
What do you think?
