More corporations add workplace anti-violence training to their pandemic-era safety protocols in response to surge in violent outbursts and ‘Karen’ incidents
California nurses demand anti-violence training for safer hospital working environments
SAN JOSE – (SEPTEMBER 22, 2020)– Workplace violence is at an all-time high in the wake of social, political and pandemic tension that has defined 2020 so far. The “Karen” incidents seem to make the news just about every week – a disgruntled customer or employee loses their cool in a public setting and the situation escalates from there. Sometimes, these situations turn violent and put customers and employees at risk. With an ongoing pandemic, looming mental health crisis and social and political tensions at an all-tome high, business owners and experts alike are anticipating a steep rise in these kind of incidents in everyday situations.
It’s a scenario that’s every business owner’s worst nightmare.
“Now more than ever, it’s become a priority for business owners to keep their employees and customers safe,” said Doc Elliot, President of Phoenix Training Group. “We saw how quickly corporations of all sizes implemented COVID-19 safety and sanitation protection protocols, but what people don’t hear about is that the demand for organizations to offer some sort of conflict resolution or violence prevention training has skyrocketed in every state as well and often times they don’t know where to find that type of training.” he said.
According to Doc Elliot, “The demand for workplace violence prevention training in all industries is up 300% from what it was last year and we’re here to help companies, employees and even their customers to stay safer during these escalated times.”
Phoenix Training Group is the nation’s premier anti-violence workplace training program focused on the education of violence prevention and de-escalation tactics. Founded by Doc Elliot, a nationally-renowned Federal Negotiation Specialist, the company trains groups of all sizes with a fully customized approach to violence prevention training.
Elliot is known as one of the pre-eminent U.S. experts in the de-escalation of violent behavior and specializes in the identification of possible threats through psychological profiling and analysis techniques.
“Our training program is unique in that we customize our violence prevention and de-escalation training specific to each business we work with,” Elliot said. “This is an important differentiation because we take into account how the business operates, what factors could predict outcomes, as well as the physical layout of the business which can make a big difference in identifying, isolating and minimizing violent or hostile situations with customers and employees.”
While tensions surrounding the currant social and political climate continue to heighten the occurrence of violent outbursts in public places, the COVID-19 pandemic has added an unforeseen set of hostile circumstances that endanger employees and customers nearly everywhere the public is served.
“Although healthcare facilities and law enforcement continue to drive the strongest demand for anti-violence training, times have changed and now the retail industry is now looking for training for their employees to learn how to diffuse aggressive and even violent situations.” Elliot said.
“Retailers continue to grapple with the implementation of COVID-19 mandates such a masks and social distancing among customers who have grown weary of their policies leading to the kind of outbursts that we see go viral online frequently, but what people are not seeing is the violent result of combative patients that end up in an emergency room while experiencing a drug or alcohol-related incident or mental health situation,” he said.
“It’s become an everyday occurrence within the healthcare field where the ER nurses and Doctors are at the receiving end of multiple physical assaults as the result of a combative patient and that is what we train hospital employees and to handle. But now we’re seeing the same behaviors and outcomes within other industries such as retail, air travel and hospitality and since they are not that accustomed to that dynamic, businesses don’t know what to do and people are getting hurt which puts business owners at serious risk."
That's why Elliot says it's imperative that business owners ensure their employees are trained on how to resolve hostile situations before they escalate.
"It’s now become a responsibility for all businesses to provide some sort of violence prevention training to their employees so that they know how to prevent a situation from becoming escalated in the first place in order to avoid conflicts instead of having to deal with them physically,” he said.
Phoenix Training Group offers hands-on training on verbal de-escalation and negotiation training, physical attack protection, as well as active shooter safety education. Class objectives take a comprehensive approach that begins with thoroughly understanding the topic at hand and teaching techniques to respond to a range of threats. Courses provide knowledge that empowers employees to feel confident and prepared to handle violent encounters, physical assaults, harassment, and other acts of verbal and physical violence.
For more information about Phoenix Training Group or to request information on workplace violence prevention training visit www.phoenixtraininggroup.com.
For more information about Phoenix Training Group or to schedule an interview with Doc Elliot, contact Melissa Rein Lively.
