Workplace violence has become one of the most pressing safety concerns of our time. Recent high-profile incidents, such as the CDC headquarters shooting, the Midtown NYC office attack, and the Fort Stewart Army Base shooting, serve as chilling reminders that no organization is immune.

The numbers tell an equally sobering story:

And yet, nearly 40% of companies have no workplace violence prevention plan at all.

These gaps cost more than lives; they damage trust, hurt retention, and create legal and financial liabilities.

Why Workplace Violence Prevention Programs Work

Workplace violence prevention is a defined strategy and not simply guesswork. Federal agencies like OSHA, CISA, and the Department of Labor emphasize that structured prevention programs:

Prevention programs turn reactive responses into proactive safeguards, and they save money by reducing legal claims, medical costs, and productivity losses.

A Seven-Step Framework for Building Your Program

Drawing on federal best practices, real-world case studies, and our experience working with investigative teams worldwide, here’s a proven roadmap for creating your own comprehensive workplace violence prevention program.

Conduct a Risk Assessment

A risk assessment is the foundation of any effective workplace violence prevention program. Without it, you’re guessing about your vulnerabilities. A comprehensive assessment should be data-driven, site-specific, and regularly updated.

Key Areas to Evaluate:

  • Physical Security Gaps: Assess access points, badge or key control, visitor sign-in procedures, parking lot lighting, surveillance coverage, and blind spots. Look for unsecured entrances, malfunctioning cameras, or open access to sensitive areas.
  • Behavioral Warning Signs: Review historical data on threats, harassment complaints, disciplinary issues, or patterns of absenteeism and interpersonal conflict.
  • Cultural Risks: Survey employees about workplace climate, as low morale, distrust in management, or perceived tolerance for aggressive behavior can signal elevated risk.

H2: Tools and Frameworks:

Additionally, organizations can incorporate both internal incident data and external crime statistics from local law enforcement to understand risks inside and outside the facility.

Create Clear Policies and Procedures

Policies should serve as a living document, guiding both day-to-day behavior and crisis response. They must be accessible, easy to understand, and applied consistently.

Information to Include in Workplace Policies and Procedures:

  • Comprehensive Definitions: Cover all forms of workplace violence—physical assaults, threats, verbal abuse, intimidation, harassment, and stalking.
  • Reporting Protocols: Explain step-by-step how employees can report concerns, with options for in-person, online, or anonymous submissions.
  • Response Measures: Detail how reports will be triaged, investigated, and resolved.
  • Consequences: Clearly outline disciplinary measures, up to and including termination and referral to law enforcement.

To further protect the workplace, organizations should review their policies annually with legal counsel to ensure compliance with federal and state laws, including any new workplace violence legislation.

Form a Threat Assessment Team (TAT)

A TAT is your front line for evaluating and addressing potential threats before they escalate.

Who Should Be Involved in a TAT: 

  • Security: For physical threat mitigation and investigative coordination.
  • Human Resources: For personnel history and policy enforcement.
  • Senior Leadership: For authority and resources.
  • Legal Counsel: To ensure actions comply with laws and limit liability.
  • Mental Health Professionals: For behavioral assessment and support.

Core Responsibilities of a TAT:

  • Hold regular meetings to review active cases and “watch list” individuals.
  • Maintain secure case files in a platform like Kaseware to connect related events over time.
  • Liaise with law enforcement and community threat assessment resources.

In addition to these responsibilities, organizations should establish activation criteria that provide clear triggers for when the TAT convenes outside its normal schedule.

Implement Confidential Reporting Mechanisms

Employees won’t report if they fear retaliation or doubt their information will be acted upon.

Options to Offer:

  • Anonymous Hotlines: Staffed by trained professionals who can help mitigate or deter risks associated with workplace violence.
  • Secure Digital Portals: Accessible via secure and trusted platforms like Kasware.  
  • Designated Liaisons: Trusted individuals within HR or security who can receive sensitive reports.

To ensure the effectiveness of those options, organizations are encouraged to publicize them regularly and provide case examples to show that reporting leads to action.

Train Employees and Managers

Training transforms policies from paper to practice. It should be tailored, interactive, and recurring.

Training Topics:

  • Recognizing Warning Signs: Changes in behavior, threats, fixation on weapons, or sudden performance drops.
  • De-escalation Skills: Active listening, maintaining personal space, using calm tones.
  • Emergency Response: Lockdown, evacuation, and shelter-in-place drills.

Studies show that scenario-based training, especially active shooter and verbal de-escalation simulations, can also significantly reduce both injuries and fatalities in the workplace during actual incidents.

Plan for Incident Response

When seconds matter, pre-planning saves lives. A good plan should be immediate, scalable, and coordinated.

Core Components:

  • Immediate Actions: Determine which staff members will call emergency services, secure the scene, and initiate alarms or lockdowns.
  • Internal Communication: Establish a clear chain of command for relaying updates to employees, security teams, and leadership.
  • External Communication: Draft holding statements for media and designate a spokesperson.
  • Law Enforcement Integration: Invite police or emergency services to tour your facility in advance to speed response times.

Once in place, organizations can test their plan through unannounced drills and document the response times, communication flow, and decision-making speed.

Follow Up and Review

Every incident or drill should end with a formal after-action review.

Key Questions to Ask:

  • Which procedures worked as intended?
  • Where did delays or confusion occur?
  • Were resources (personnel, equipment, communication systems) adequate?
  • What changes need to be made before the next incident or drill?

After acquiring the answers to these questions, organizations can share the lessons learned with staff to reinforce a culture of transparency and continuous improvement.

How Can Kaseware Support Workplace Violence Prevention Programs?

Preventing workplace violence involves establishing effective policies and investing in the right tools to make them actionable. Kaseware’s investigative case management and analytics platform transforms prevention plans from static documents into living, data-driven security operations.

Here’s how our platform makes it possible:

Centralizes Reporting and Intelligence

Instead of scattered emails, spreadsheets, and verbal reports, Kaseware consolidates all incident data, including anonymous tips, HR reports, and security alerts, into one secure platform.

  • Every submission is time-stamped, stored securely, and accessible to authorized users.
  • Built-in categorization and tagging make it easy to prioritize and route cases to the right team.
  • Employees, contractors, and external partners can report concerns through integrated portals, ensuring no signal is lost.

Links Related Incidents Over Time and Across Departments

Many violent incidents aren’t single events. In most cases, these incidents are preceded by smaller warning signs that may seem unrelated at first.

  • Kaseware automatically correlates incident data across locations, departments, and jurisdictions.
  • Behavioral patterns, such as repeated harassment complaints from multiple sources, can be identified by threat assessment teams.
  • Cross-case linking helps security teams and organizations identify individuals or situations that might otherwise go unnoticed until it’s too late.

Analyzes Trends Before They Escalate

Our built-in analytics and visualization tools transform raw reports into actionable intelligence.

  • Heat maps and trend charts highlight emerging hotspots within an organization or region.
  • Dashboards display key metrics, incident frequency, reporting timeliness, and resolution rates, so leaders can measure program effectiveness.
  • Advanced filters let you drill down by location, date range, type of threat, or department to uncover root causes.

Enhances Effective Collaboration Between HR, Security, and Law Enforcement

When a credible threat emerges, speed and coordination are critical. Kaseware case management software provides:

  • Role-based access controls so each stakeholder sees exactly the information they need.
  • Secure, auditable communication channels for sharing sensitive data with law enforcement without compromising confidentiality.
  • Case notes, attachments, and updates are logged in real time, ensuring everyone stays aligned during high-pressure situations.

Integrates Policy and Training Resources

In addition to being a case management tool, Kaseware is also a repository for a workplace violence prevention program’s critical resources.

  • Attach relevant guidance directly to case files so investigators and managers can reference them instantly.
  • Track who has accessed or completed training materials, ensuring ongoing compliance.

With Kaseware, any organization’s threat assessment and prevention program becomes intelligence-led, proactive, and coordinated, turning isolated reports into a unified, rapid response capability. The result is a safer workplace, reduced risk, and stronger trust across the organization.

Build a Better Workplace Violence Prevention Program with Kaseware 

Workplace violence is a preventable risk, but only if organizations take prevention seriously. Building a comprehensive program isn’t just about compliance. It’s about protecting people, safeguarding the organization’s mission, and maintaining public trust.

With the right framework, the right training, and the right technology, you can stop threats before they become tragedies.


Schedule a demo to see how Kaseware can help your organization achieve success with its workplace violence prevention program.