8-3 Safety and Security for County Employees

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Approved: County Administrator
Authority: County Administrator              
Revised Date: October 1, 2007

What’s on this Page:

1. Purpose
2. Policy
3. Responsibilities

I. Purpose

To establish standards for appropriate workplace behavior, to provide training regarding the process for prevention of and responses to workplace violence, and to establish other inappropriate workplace behavior, in order to conduct business with the public safely and effectively.

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II. Policy

1. All County employees are to be courteous and professional in their dealings with the public and with each other.  Employees will treat all members of the public, supervisors, subordinates, and other fellow County employees with respect.  Directions to subordinates will be in clear and understandable language, civil in tone, and issued in the pursuit of County business.  Threats of violence, bodily harm, or physical intimidation by employees, members of the public, or others will not be tolerated.
2. Training shall be made available to ensure all employees know: how to prevent situations involving co-workers, members of the public or others from escalating into violence or other inappropriate behavior; how to respond in threatening situations; and how to report threats or harassment. 

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III. Responsibilities

1. All department managers and supervisors are responsible for ensuring that employees behave appropriately in the workplace by communicating the expectations and response plans, securing training for themselves and their subordinate staff as necessary, and pursuing any necessary preventative or corrective action. Department heads are responsible for ensuring that each of their departmental workplaces is secure by implementing appropriate security procedures and addressing any security deficiencies in their workplace facilities.  In addition, department heads are responsible for developing a threat response plan for each of their departmental workplaces, including information about what employees should do and where employees should go when a potentially threatening situation arises.
2. The Directors of General Services and Human Resources are responsible for developing and providing the training required for this policy, including but not limited to: for managers, how to identify potential problems, to intervene early, and to develop appropriate response plans; and for employees, particularly those who deal with the public regularly, how to handle difficult people and situations so that they don’t erupt into violence.
3.  The Director of General Services is also responsible for developing procedures for and convening multi-disciplinary threat assessment teams at the request of a department head in order to address workplace violence issues and potential incidents.  Such threat assessment teams may involve various subject matter experts such as representatives from County Counsel, the Sheriff’s office, General Services – Risk Management, Health Services – Mental Health and Human Resources as well as representatives from affected departments and the County Administrator’s office.  These teams may offer suggestions or recommendations to affected department heads for responding to particular situations in ways that will promote the safety of the employees and/or members of the public involved.
4. The Director of Human Resources is also responsible for maintaining the Employee Assistance Program offering counseling services for personal issues and problems to all employees.

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