Is your college or university prepared for a potentially deadly active shooter/violent intruder?

 

Colleges and Universities as Employers

Each week, on average, violent individuals murder 15 workers, violently assault over 11,000 and in total assault over 38,000 workers. Per week. Violent intruders in the college or university workplace may originate from the public, students, past students, current employees, former employees, or domestic violence incidents that spill over into the workplace.

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Does your staff and faculty know what to do if confronted by a violent intruder? Have you been proactive in preventing incidents and mitigating the harm an active shooter or violent intruder could do?

 

The General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1), of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), requires employers to provide their employees with a place of employment that “is free from recognizable hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm to employees.”  The courts have interpreted OSHA’s General Duty Clause to mean that an employer has a legal obligation to provide a workplace free of conditions or activities that either the employer or industry recognizes as hazardous and that cause, or are likely to cause, death or serious physical harm to employees when there is a feasible method to abate the hazard.

 

A college or university that has experienced acts of workplace violence, or becomes aware of threats, intimidation or other indicators showing that the potential for violence in the organization exists, would be on notice of the risk of workplace violence.  That college or university should start a workplace violence prevention program that includes active shooter/violent intruder prevention and response training.

 

Our job is to prepare you, your faculty, staff and hopefully your students, to identify vulnerabilities you may have and to meet the challenge of active shooters/violent intruders.

 

We want you to recognize and diminish the threat if possible and should the worst happen to have a range of choices available to reduce your chances of being injured and increase your chances of survival.

 

National VIPS trains participants to prevent and respond to active shooter/violent intruder incidents. Participants will learn:

 

• How to identify risk factors for potential active shooters/violent intruders.

• How to recognize behavioral warning signs of violence in individuals.

• How to create a customized violence prevention and response program.

• How to take immediate action to reduce injuries and to reduce the risk of fatalities by using options taught in the training.

• How to alert staff and others, and how to give them second-by-second instructions that may save their lives.

• How local law enforcement will respond and how to not be a problem for them.

 

Faculty, staff and students should receive violent intruder prevention and response training to prevent and reduce violence, to make sure your institution has a faster and healthier recovery if the worst should happen.

 

Questions?  How can we help your college or university prepare?