Chamber offers workplace violence prevention program

Newton — Ranging from the worst mass shooting incident in U.S. history in Las Vegas, to the most deadly terror attack in New York City since 9/11 on Halloween day involving a vehicular ramming on a crowded bike path, 2017 was punctuated with several major incidents of mass violence.
These events remind us that no organization or geographic area is immune from violence. In an effort to empower area companies and organizations with information regarding the prevention of workplace violence, the Sussex County Chamber of Commerce is offering a one hour workshop entitled, “New Thinking in Workplace Violence Prevention and Active Assailant Response” on Friday, February 2 at the Sussex County Community College Performing Arts Center. The program includes lunch and will begin at noon. The cost for Chamber of Commerce members is $50.00. Non-members are $75.00.
Presenting the program is Steven Crimando, an internationally known expert in behavioral response to disasters and mass violence and a Certified Homeland Protection Professional (CHPP) and a Board Certified Expert in Traumatic Stress (BCETS).
Highlights of his program will include:
• Types and sources of workplace violence: Using the Expanded Typology Scope and prevalence of the problem
• Individual and organizational triggers of violence
• Pre-incident indictors: Significant behavior and communications
• When and how to report concerns or threats
• Defusing hostile individuals
• Response to an Active Assailant incidents (including gun violence, vehicle attacks and other threat)
• Planning and interacting with law enforcement before, during and after violent events
• Psychological survival and basic psychological first aid
“Having an Active Shooter Response Plan is no longer enough,” explains Crimando. “Organizations and institutions must be prepared for new attack methods and develop policies, plans, procedures and exercises aligned with today’s realities.”
The one-hour workshop provides critical information with an emphasis on recognizing violence risks, developing effective and defensible plans and policies, and anticipating the challenges in the prevention of, response to, and recovery from violence affecting the workforce both on and off the organization’s grounds.
“It’s important to recognize that managers and supervisors are often in a unique position to detect and deter potentially violent individuals,” says Crimando. Unfortunately, he explains, “they are also frequently the target of a disgruntled or disturbed employee’s wrath.”
About the presenter
Steven Crimando, CHPP, BCETS, is the Principal of Behavioral Science Applications (BSA), a training and consulting firm based in Sparta, NJ, serving a global client base. BSA is focused on human factors in crisis prevention and response. Mr. Crimando is a Board Certified Expert in Traumatic Stress (BCETS), and Diplomate of both the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, and National Center for Crisis Management, as well as a Certified Homeland Protection Professional (CHPP). He has been recognized for his outstanding contributions to the field by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Justice-Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
With nearly three decades of front line crisis response experience, Mr. Crimando was a responder to the 1993 and 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, New Jersey’s Anthrax Screening Center, the Unabomber case and other major disasters and acts of international terrorism. He serves as a consultant and instructor for multinational corporations, government agencies, major city police departments and military programs, as well as an expert to the media and the courts in the area of crisis prevention and intervention.