Pizza Today - May 2020 - 28

can de-escalate situations and lessen the
likelihood of violence occurring," he says.
That means having a plan for certain
scenarios, such as how to terminate a problematic employee, how to respond to an
employee who mentions that she is scared
a violent ex-husband may show up at the
restaurant, or how to deal with two conflicting employees. "Awareness, planning
and staff training can lessen the likelihood
of violence occurring," Monson says. "But
there should still be a plan in place for an
emergency response if an act of violence
does occur."
Threat Assessment
Unlike offices or manufacturing facilities,
restaurants cannot close their doors to the
public to keep employees safe. "That's the
reason they are hit much harder by this
issue," says John Dony, director, Campbell
Institute at the Itasca, Illinois-based National Safety Council.
Being proactive or looking at factors that
Dony says are upstream of the incident,
can help. Employees can take de-escalation
training to learn how to diffuse a potentially dangerous situation by using verbal
skills and nonphysical tactics. There is also

mental health first aid training, which
covers listening, assessing and interventions. "We look at it as a systemic sort of
spectrum, how you manage this risk," he
says. "The biggest factor is lower levels of
violence, bullying and altercations, not guns
and knives."
The NSC and other organizations offer
onsite and online training, and there are
also various free online videos and other
resources from insurance companies and
others. "As with any training, doing something is better than nothing," Dony says.
Response Protocol
The NSC has an initiative, Work to
Zero, and released a report, Safety Technology 2020: Mapping Technology Solutions
for Reducing Serious Injuries and Fatalities in the Workplace. The report made
recommendations for certain technologies
that could help keep workers safe, such as
video cameras, wearable or app-based panic
buttons, and mobile apps that utilize the
location tracking and communication functionality of workers' phones, so responders
know where the worker is located.
Businesses often have low-tech response
protocols, including a plan for what to

do during and after an incident. The plan
should have details such as where to meet
in the event of an evacuation. Employers must make sure workers get medical
attention and mental health services and
must contact their workers' compensation
insurance provider to find out about medical bills, days off and other issues.
Insurance
In restaurants, the top three ways workers get injured are cuts, falls and strains,
says Michael Hayden, safety services
supervisor for Pinnacol Assurance, the
largest workers' compensation company in
Colorado. "Four would be 'struck by,' and
that's where we would classify violence," he
says. The source could be a falling object, or
a fellow worker.
One factor that can help prevent an incident is to have clear policies and practices
around hiring, which includes conducting
background checks, checking references,
and continuing the job search if the applicant has constant job hopping or other red
flags. "Don't bring on the person because
you're desperate," says Todd Faubion,
chief security and fraud prevention officer
for Pinnacol. "When we are coaching on
hiring, there are things we want to be
mindful of, such as a person's ability to
tolerate frustration. We want employees
who have elasticity and a mindset that
when things don't go their way they don't
turn to violence."
Domestic violence is an important
factor to be aware of with employees.
An abusive spouse or former intimate
partner often does not know where the
estranged person lives, but they know
where they work, so they might look for
the victim there. "Encourage employees
to report this to management so at least
we know something is on the radar if
the person comes in, and how to interact
with that spouse and what to do," Faubion says.
Keeping employees safe from violence
is as important as teaching knife skills or
food safety and should not be overlooked
in the busy day-to-day. "The mistake is
to take it lightly," Hayden says. "Set up
a formal program, and make sure it's
documented." n
NORA CALEY is a freelance writer
who covers small business, finance and
lifestyle topics.

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