| Workplace
trauma has received more attention in recent years.
People typically think of workplace 'violence'
upon hearing about trauma inthe workplace. They
tend to associate workplace violence with employees
or ex-employees shooting people in the workplace
due largely to the media¹s emphasis on these
incidents.
In fact, there are many events that can precipitate
traumatic reactions for people in the workplace.
Any event that affects the geographic locale in
which a business is situated can affect people
in the workplace. Moreover, many incidents that
have an impact within a company or organization
will affect the employees of that group.
A workplace is a community, with all of
the subsequent issues of identity and culture.
It will have its own norms and expectations for
how and when things are discussed, what are acceptable
and appropriate behaviors, the roles of formal
and informal leaders, and feelings of pride and
identification with the community. Because of
this sense of community, when a traumatic event
occurs in the workplace, there needs to be a response
by an employer to one of the organization¹s
greatest resources - the employees. Such support
must be afforded to workers regardless of what
is being done for the people in the organization
by the outside community. To ignore an event and
its impact on employees is a tragic mistake for
the continued success of the business and the
recovery and mental health of the employees -
both being dependent on the other. What an employer
would do in any situation will vary and depend
upon many variables. A response, however, is critical.
There are many types of traumatic events that
occur in the workplace. They include:
- Natural disasters- hurricanes,
tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, volcanoes,
fires
- Human-caused incidents -
explosions, fires, violence from firearms
or other weapons, rape, threats, robbery,
assaults, domestic violence, stalking
- Deaths (including homicide/suicide)
- on-the-job, away from the job, work-related,
accidental, disease-caused, violent
- Downsizing/layoffs - mergers,
buy outs, large or small, by division or cross
the board
- Construction
Unfortunately, no workplace can consider itself
immune to potential traumatic events. A traumatic
event can directly affect one employee or can
be a large scale event and be experienced directly
by all employees. An employer may want to identify
and assess risk for potential events and begin
a planning process to respond accordingly. The
risk can be for specific natural disasters, or
may be particular to that employer dependent on
the nature of the work and organizational culture.
It is incumbent upon the employer to plan in order
to prevent or at least lower the risk of occurrence,
and to also plan for response efforts in case
of an unavoidable or unpredictable event.
Why is it important for the workplace to consider
trauma response? Success of the business or company,
both short and long-term, may hinge on management¹s
response to a traumatic event.
If employees feel neglected, their loyalty and
commitment to their employer can be withheld.
If an employee develops posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), the health care costs borne by the company
will be extensive, and depending upon the state,
there can be an expensive Workers¹ Compensation
claim and a possible lawsuit. Often there will
be increased physical health costs secondary to
emotional response that will also affect absenteeism.
Productivity can suffer. The loss of productivity
can be minimized and contained if the employer
plans a timely and appropriate response. The loss
of loyalty, commitment, productivity, increased
absenteeism, retention challenges, and health
costs are all sufficient reasons for employers
to plan for and address trauma in the workplace,
especially given the minimal expense involved
in planning.
University of California (UC) - Berkeley is the
largest employer in the East Bay of the San Francisco
Bay Area with approximately 15,000 faculty and
staff. Of course, the customers or clients of
this employer are the students, which number approximately
35,000. Universities tend to think of themselves
as communities, and in fact, provide full community
services to many. This may include, as it does
at UC Berkeley, housing, food, entertainment,
recreational facilities and activities, health
care, libraries, police, museums, cultural performances,
etc. Most of the students, faculty, and staff
live in Berkeley and its surrounding communities.
Because it is a public university, there is an
emphasis at UC Berkeley on its service responsibilities
to the people of the state of California. Due
to the highly political nature of the campus and
the city of Berkeley, there is often highly charged
controversy and turmoil surrounding any action
(or inaction) by the University. To support its
standing as one of the top universities, excellence
is highly valued in all areas.
Due to its geographic location on the Hayward
Fault, and due to the many types of people the
Berkeley community attracts, anticipating traumatic
events and planning for them may be more obvious
than in some other workplaces. Some issues are
common to all workplaces and UC Berkeley has both
led the way and learned from examples of others.
The following is what UC Berkeley has developed
to respond to the range of traumatic events with
specific examples of experience given in each
category.
Natural Disasters: 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake
and 1991 Oakland-Berkeley Firestorm
UC Berkeley is situated in a region that has
earthquakes, fires, and mudslides. Disaster planning
has become an additional activity for many of
the University service departments, such as the
police, Health services, telecommunications, housing
and dining, physical plant, etc. The experiences
of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and the 1991
Oakland - Berkeley firestorm helped to solidify
the need for response by this employer. Though
the physical site was not damaged in either event,
many people who worked on campus were directly
affected, through loss of life, home, and outside
business. Though the overwhelming need in the
hours or even day(s) immediately following a disaster
is not specifically for mental health response,
there is a significant need for attending to the
experience of people confronted with the disaster
in order to prevent PTSD. Identification of those
at risk with subsequent special outreach, provision
of general educational materials on trauma response
to all faculty and staff, offering of Critical
Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) and more casual
debriefings, as well as longer term follow-up
at 3 and 6 months and 1 year have all worked well
following these events.
This employer recognizes the need for a mental
health response and it is part of the disaster
planning effort. In addition to the above activities,
screening of response workers and emergency operations
center decision makers for trauma symptoms is
vital. There has been success at receiving FEMA
funding for some of these activities following
the firestorm in coordination with local community
mental health. There must be coordination between
the employer and the community to avoid service
duplication. However, it is important for the
disaster to be addressed within workgroups regardless
of what is offered in the community. The employer¹s
top management may be well served by mental health
input into their actions and communications to
employees.
Workplace Violence
According to California Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA), workplace violence
can be categorized in several ways. ³Type
1 violence² is committed by an outside person
coming into the workplace with the intention of
committing a crime (e.g., robbing a convenience
store). ³Type 2 violence² is when a
person who is receiving service or who has reason
to be at the workplace, is violent toward the
service provider (e.g., shooting by a patient
of emergency room physicians). ³Type 3 violence²
is due to some employment connection - current
or former employee or domestic violence brought
into the workplace. Most people think of Type
3 when they think of workplace violence, but in
fact, Type 1 is by far the most common workplace
violence. An employer must examine the type of
work and assess for which risks exist and how
to mitigate them.
At UC Berkeley, we have opportunities for all
three types of violence and have attempted to
address them with appropriate measures. A Behavior
Risk Assessment team has been in existence for
many years to review threats or concerns about
the behavior of a student, faculty or staff member.
Team members are called together as the need arises,
with participants from different roles present
depending on the situation. This team, along with
a statement from the Chancellor (i.e., CEO) setting
the limits of appropriate behaviors, has proven
to be effective in addressing Types 2 and 3 workplace
violence. Security measures have been instituted
in the appropriate departments at risk for Type
1violence. An additional activity is the training
of as many faculty and staff as possible about
workplace violence, including identifying the
behavioral symptoms in colleagues that are of
concern for potential violence.
Death including Homicide and Suicide
Because the deaths of colleagues or the people
that you provide services for have an impact and
a ripple effect for people in the workplace, employer
response is extremely significant. If there is
no process to address the deaths of those within
the workplace, the grief response can be exacerbated.
These individuals are already tapping into their
past experience with death in their lives and
need the recognition by their employer and those
around them that the most recent death does have
an impact on them. To facilitate the emotional
response and grieving, the University developed
guidelines, laid out in a website, to follow in
the event of a death of a member of the campus
community, as well as some suggestions for the
employer when a family member of an employee dies.
Employees never forget how an employer treats
them at such a challenging time - when death occurs.
An employer who ignores or does not acknowledge
the death of someone close to an employee can
actually interfere with normal grieving and precipitate
a complicated grief response. Specific guidelines
that are included to address the emotional needs
are Employee Assistance Program facilitated grief
groups in departments, grief and loss psycho-educational
groups and support groups, educational material
on grief/loss and community resources. Suggestions
for handling rituals, memorials, flowers, donations,
condolence cards from the employer, time off etc.
are also addressed.
Downsizing/layoffs of the 1980s and 1990s
Loss of a job can be psychologically devastating
to an individual. For some, it provides new opportunities
and new employment. For others, it may touch on
past experiences and create such an overwhelming
loss of identity and livelihood, that a traumatic
response is precipitated. In order to assist these
individuals and address the mental health needs
of all involved in this situation, specific activities
to attend to these people need to occur. Educational
materials on the impact of grief and loss and
change, groups for people who are losing/lost
their job, promotion of activities that enhance
self-esteem, individual counseling and outplacement
services including career planning and retraining,
are all part of a comprehensive response. Additional
consultation with decision-makers regarding communications
is vital. Despite all of the services in place,
lack of communication or insensitive communication
can add a traumatic quality to the action of the
layoff itself. UC Berkeley responded as above
during this difficult time in the early 1990s.
Building Construction
Construction on the worksite can be a major disruption
for an employer and its employees. It changes
the relationships of coworkers, prompts temporary
physical moves, calls for tolerance of immense
noise, dust, inconvenience, and in general, changes
work as it had been. It may never return to exactly
the same - there will always be some difference
(even if it is just structural work). How an individual
experiences this will be based on past experience
with change, etc. Though difficult for anyone
affected by construction, this experience can
bring forward memories of prior traumas for some
(e.g., unwanted or unanticipated relocating).
At UC Berkeley, a team has been formed to look
at the human impact of construction - to facilitate
a communication process and address the issues
that may arise for employees to prevent unnecessary
stress.
Conclusion
Bad things happen to people and places. Sometimes
these bad things involve injury and even death.
However, it doesn¹t take death for people
to be seriously impacted in their lives.
If the aforementioned issues are recognized by
an employer, it will become obvious that attention
needs to be paid to the impact of these events
on the business and the people in the business.
By taking some time at the front end to plan for
preventing or minimizing traumatic events, and
for responding when they occur, much of the negative
impact of such events can be mitigated.
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