In this opinion piece, Paul Walsh*, director of security & risk consulting firm QRisk looks at the everyday situations that can blow up into big incidents in the workplace – and what to do about it.
"Brian" is somewhat of a regular customer – but not in a good way. As he walks into the office, the staff has a feeling wash over them, something like: "He's back, don't look at him."
Anxiety levels increase. Which Brian will we see today, they wonder? Has he taken his medication; will he be angry like last time?
He demands to see the office manager; she's not in. His tone worsens, adorned with expletives; his body language becomes aggressive. He closes in on a staff member, she stands her ground, he's unhappy at being told the manager is away and, with both hands, he shoves her to the ground, stands over her and spits on her, expletives raining down as well.
Staff and other customers try to intervene, some placing themselves in danger; chaos reigns. No one is sure quite what to do or who's in charge.
They do their best in the circumstances but it takes time for calm and order to be restored. Brian has long gone, but the police have arrived. Staff are feeling different emotions, adrenalin having ripped through them and then been washed out. Customers caught up are both upset and angry.
One staff member says: "I knew that was gonna happen one day, it was just a matter of time before Brian flipped his lid, I just knew it."
In the aftermath, management decide staff need de-escalation training on how to deal with these types of situations.
But here's the thing: Training the staff is a great start but training alone won't cut it.
The above (fictional) scenario is being played out in reality – and is becoming way too common in a number of different work environments every day.
Perhaps it doesn't often happen to the same level yet sometimes there can be an even greater consequence to people's safety and security. Aggressive customer situations are a real issue for staff and customers who walk into different businesses, stores and organisations every day.
Aggressive customer situations, robbery, shoplifting, critical incidents, natural disaster response and workplace accidents are all issues QRisk have knowledge in – and on which we deliver unique organisational training. Workplace leaders and staff somewhere have to deal with some type of crisis like this every day.
This may seem like a weird statement for a company that's passionate about training people but when stuff goes bad, simply training staff to keep themselves safe isn't enough.
If keeping people safe in these situations is something you are passionate about, if you are that caring people leader, or health, safety and security champion, then we encourage a lift in the thinking and response to this problem.
We call it the Good Drills Programme – not a big investment in time or cost, but it is a commitment to building resilience in people's safety and security.
With a focus on people and the environment, the programme consists of layers, knowledge, tools, and practice. Knowledge is the training, tools are our unique products including gamified cards and practice pulls in the leadership. Everything is designed to help keep those key safety and security messages top of mind.
Getting a good response to any critical incident and which safeguards staff and customers is what the Good Drills Programme delivers. One of our clients is rolling the programme out on a national basis, lifting the capability of leaders and staff on what to do when safety or security is under pressure.
Build the layers, then you and your team are prepared – not just for aggressive customer situations but any critical incident. Training is very important but it's just the base layer.
Your most important asset is your people, so investing in that training is a great start – but one-off training isn't enough to have staff trained and ready to respond to any critical incident. Training supported by the layers above help make the lessons learnt become "sticky" and the desired response to incidents lasting.
Challenge your thinking, challenge your team and make change happen. Contact QRisk and we can walk you through our Good Drills Programme. Your people will thank you for it.
*Paul Walsh is a partner at QRisk Training. With a vision of "a safer world, one client at a time". QRisk are specialists in lifting the capability and capacity of people and organisations – keeping people safe through onsite and online interactive training and the wider good drills programmes. He is also a keynote speaker around people safety security with a focus on personal accountability and responsibility.