{"id":576,"date":"2011-11-07T15:08:11","date_gmt":"2011-11-07T20:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/?page_id=576"},"modified":"2019-09-03T15:05:42","modified_gmt":"2019-09-03T19:05:42","slug":"safety-in-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/hr\/safety-in-the-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"Safety in the Workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Research shows that many Cooperative Extension employees are worried about safety in the workplace. Whether it is in our offices, cars or on the road coming home from late-night meetings, keeping safe should be a concern for every employee. This page provides links to important information and a set of helpful hints developed by Cooperative Extension workers to make our jobs and work environments safer.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.maine.edu\/pdf\/SystemOfficeWorkplaceViolencePolicycurrent.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Workplace Violence Policies and Procedures (PDF)<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Statistics on workplace safety: <a href=\"#tf\">your own True\/False test on workplace violence<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#hints\">Hints for how to make our workplaces safer<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><a name=\"tf\"><\/a><strong>True\/False test on workplace violence<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Test yourself on the following questions. Answers and statistics are supplied at the bottom.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Violent people engage only in physical attacks or threatening or harassing behavior. True or False?<\/li>\n<li>In 1993, workplace homicide was the second leading killer of employees on-the-job. True or False?<\/li>\n<li>Violent perpetrators almost always fit a profile. True or False?<\/li>\n<li>Potential job loss or actual job termination is the leading cause of workplace violence in on-the-job homicide. True or False?<\/li>\n<li>Angry people are born angry and shouldn&#8217;t be hired in the first place. True or False?<\/li>\n<li>Disgruntled employees who become violent often have job-performance related problems. True or False?<\/li>\n<li>Mental disorders or psychological problems are a much larger problem in violent behaviors than drug or alcohol abuse. True or False?<\/li>\n<li>Revenge against specific individuals is almost always a motivation for workplace violence. True or False?<\/li>\n<li>A terminated employee who is likely to commit an act of violence almost always will do so within one or two months. True or False?<\/li>\n<li>The most likely source of workplace violence is from co-workers. True or False?<\/li>\n<li>We can reduce workplace violence from clients by giving quality and timely service. True or False?<\/li>\n<li>One out of four employees is the victim of harassment, threats or physical attacks. True or False?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/hr\/safety-in-the-workplace\/answers\/\">Answers to these questions and statistics to support the answers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><a name=\"hints\"><\/a><strong>Hints for How to Make our Workplaces Safer<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>These hints came from a discussion with Extension workers about workplace safety at the February, 1997, Orientation Session. They were all suggested by attendees at that session.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hints to prevent and deal with violence in the office<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Talk about this as office staff and develop guidelines that work in your specific situation.<\/li>\n<li>Survey the environment for hazards and escape routes.<\/li>\n<li>Have area\u2019s well-lighted.<\/li>\n<li>Build barriers in entrance space to prevent or delay intrusion.<\/li>\n<li>Meet customers\/clients in a setting where others can monitor the meeting for violent behavior or hear your call for help.<\/li>\n<li>Position yourself nearer to the exit than the visitor.<\/li>\n<li>Have more than one escape route, if possible.<\/li>\n<li>Distract person and escape or have someone get help.<\/li>\n<li>Develop a system of ways to signal for help.<\/li>\n<li>Have emergency numbers posted at everyone\u2019s phone or program 911 into phones.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t hesitate to call the police.<\/li>\n<li>Be attentive and keep others in the office posted if you see or hear anything threatening.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid working alone.<\/li>\n<li>If you have to be alone, keep doors locked.<\/li>\n<li>Listen to your own instincts about staying safe.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Hints for staying safe in the field<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Talk about this as office staff and develop guidelines that work in your specific situation.<\/li>\n<li>Have cellular phones or hand-held walkie-talkies.<\/li>\n<li>Team up when possible.<\/li>\n<li>Let office\/others know where you are and when you\u2019ll be back or check-in, and CHECK-IN.<\/li>\n<li>Keep car doors locked when traveling\/any time you\u2019re in your car<\/li>\n<li>Carry emergency equipment, i.e. flashlight, blanket, warm clothing.<\/li>\n<li>Keep the vehicle in good running condition\/have ample gas.<\/li>\n<li>Have personal i.d.\/maps<\/li>\n<li>Have the correct key in hand and ready for use when you leave or approach your car.<\/li>\n<li>Park car for a quick escape.<\/li>\n<li>Lock doors when leaving the car.<\/li>\n<li>Dress safely as well as professionally.<\/li>\n<li>Carry dog biscuits\/cookies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Research shows that many Cooperative Extension employees are worried about safety in the workplace. Whether it is in our offices, cars or on the road coming home from late-night meetings, keeping safe should be a concern for every employee. This page provides links to important information and a set of helpful hints developed by Cooperative [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":138,"featured_media":0,"parent":14,"menu_order":14,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/page-withsidebar.php","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-576","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"Amanda Miles","author_link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/author\/amiles\/"},"comment_info":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/138"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10401,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/576\/revisions\/10401"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}