ANSI/ASIS WVPI AA-2020 Workplace Violence and Active Assailant 4.2: 4.2 A working definition of workplace violence

An organization setting up a WVPI program should first settle its scope, aiming to prevent or reduce every form of violence while recognizing that most cases involve behavior short of assault. Perpetrators may be current or former employees, contractors or temporary staff, past, current or prospective clients or customers, family members or partners of employees, vendors or service providers, shareholders, or people with no apparent link to the organization. The working definition should cover both (a) every form of violence whatever its apparent severity, including aggressive or intimidating conduct (bullying, harassment), physical attacks, harm to oneself, harm aimed at a person or the organization, and direct or indirect threats, and (b) conduct that a reasonable person would see as raising concern that someone may turn violent, for example stalking, erratic or bizarre conduct, physical intimidation, fascination with violence and statements about suicide. These belong in the definition because they disrupt work in themselves, give a chance to step in before violence, and can put the organization on notice with legal consequences. The definition should stay tied to workplace safety: conduct with a foreseeable effect on safety at work or during work activities, wherever it happens, with any victim so long as there is a workplace link (employees, visitors, people at organization events). The resulting scope should read workplace violence as a range of behaviors from overt violence and threats to conduct giving reasonable concern for safety, linked to employees' physical safety through any internal or external relationship.