Tackling aggression from third parties in the workplace

Before the aggression: developing a policy 

The starting point is a declaration of intent stating that violence will not be tolerated. To make this clear in practice, you must also define what the organisation means by violence and what forms of violence occur. 

By also developing an aggression protocol, you establish procedures for each stage of the aggression cycle. A risk assessment is used to determine the extent and nature of the risk of aggression within the organisation. Existing measures are also listed, evaluated and optimised.  

During the aggression: resilience through verbal judo 

If an instance of aggression occurs, the right approach can prevent the situation from escalating further. Verbal judo is a technique for managing aggression. The principles are: 

• treat the other person respectfully 

• move with the other person 

• use specific communication techniques 

One crucial point is not to counter-attack but to try to deflect the aggression. 

After the aggression: keeping a record and providing support 

You are legally required to keep a record of actions by third parties, and it’s important to encourage employees to report every instance of aggression. This can be done anonymously. The register is kept by the internal risk prevention advisor or person of trust, and your external service can perform an annual analysis of it. 

Tell your employees about the support services they can access. If a victim of aggression needs support in processing what’s happened, this must be provided at the employer’s expense. 

Tips 

1. Accurately record the frequency of incidents over a given period of time. It’s important to measure what’s going on. 

2. Encourage employees to actually record any aggression they experience from third parties.

3. What measures have you taken? 

4. Who frequently comes into contact with third parties? A practical workshop can help you learn specific techniques for dealing with aggression.