/ Section: 26
Procedure: Workplace Violence
Page: 1 of 3
/ Manual

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND

SAFETY

Section

VIOLENCE IN THE WORKPLACE
Revised Date
April 2010 /

Section

26 /

Page

1 of 3

PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to demonstrate the Dealer’s commitment to preventing workplace violence at the store. This policy will provide a general guideline on preventing and protecting our store’s employees from Workplace Violence. In any workplace where employees interact with the general public and with each other, there is a risk of violence.

Violence is defined as follows:

“workplace violence” means the attempted or actual exercise of any physical force so as to cause injury to a worker, and includes any threatening statement or behaviour which gives a worker reasonable grounds to believe that the worker is at risk of injury at the workplace.

Forms of violence may include:

  • threatening behavior (intimidation, abuse, threats)
  • verbal or written threats (with any intention to inflict harm)
  • physical assault (punching, kicking, pushing)
  • aggravated physical (weapons or objects)

Sources of Violent Behavior:

  • Person from inside the workplace (co-worker or manager)
  • Person related to the function of the workplace (customer or contractor)
  • Person with an indirect relationship to the workplace (former employee, spouse)
  • Person who is unrelated to the organization such that a member of the public or a person has criminal intent

WORKPLACE VIOLENCE POLICY

Our store recognizes the potential for violent acts or threats directed against our employees by outsiders as well as internally while working at the store. Every effort has been made at this store to identify possible sources of violence and to implement procedures to minimize risks of violence.

The Dealer and managers are responsible for ensuring that all employees are made aware that workplace violence could occur and that they are properly trained in the store’s workplace violence procedures to protect themselves.

All violent incidents shall be documented on the Workplace Violence Incident form available on the program (see Forms section of H&S Manual). Each violent incident shall be carefully investigated by the Dealer and the Joint Health and Safety Committee in order to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.

SCOPE

The following steps and/or explanation of responsibilities are intended to help each employee, supervisor and manager to be aware of what is required of them with respect to preventing workplace violence at our store.

WORKPLACE VIOLENCE ASSESSMENT

In order to determine whether a risk of workplace violence exists at the store, the Workplace Violence program has a complete set of department violence assessments with recommended action and control measures available on the program website. Each manager should receive a copy of their department violence assessment and validate its accuracy. The validation process includes surveying employees; reviewing accident and incident reports; assessing the nature of the interaction between employees and the public; assessing the physical layout of the store and reviewing existing work procedures and practices.

INCIDENT REPORTING

In the event that a violent incident occurs at our store, the Dealer should be notified immediately. If the Dealer is not in the store, then the highest ranking manager shall be notified. The Dealer or manager shall attend to the safety of the employee first before documenting the incident in the Violent Incident Report Form available on this program. The Dealer or the Senior Manager on duty shall conduct an investigation in consultation with the Joint Health and Safety Committee. All steps should be taken to prevent a reoccurrence of the incident and shall be communicated to all employees at our store.

MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES

Each manager has the legal requirement to take every reasonable precaution to ensure our store employees work in an environment that is free of violence. Managers have specific obligations to take action when they have been made aware that violence has taken place at the store. It should also be clear to Managers that under the Occupational Health & Safety Act, our employees have the right to refuse unsafe work. Unsafe work includes a threat of workplace violence. When a manager is made aware of a complaint of or an actual violent incident they shall inform the Dealer immediately.

EMPLOYEE GUIDELINES

Employees should familiarize themselves with the store’s workplace violence procedures in order to be better informed of what to do if violence occurs. Employees are also encouraged to report any concerns or actual incidents of violence to the Dealer. If the Dealer is not available, the concern or actual incidents of violence should be reported the highest ranking manager on duty.

PROCEDURE REVIEW

This procedure will be reviewed annually by the Joint Health & Safety Committee as per the H&S Procedure – Communication.

DEALER COMMITMENT STATEMENT

I, ______, the employer at this Canadian Tire store, recognize the potential for workplace violence directed at our employees. As such, our managers, Joint Health and Safety committee and I are committed to, have developed and will maintain a Workplace Violence program at this store and when necessary include a full audit of the store’s Workplace Violence Program.

Signed: ______Date: ______