Most Workplace Violence Isn’t Prevented During the Incident. It’s Prevented Before It Begins.
By Rob Andress
Violence Prevention Specialist / Self Defence Expert
Street Safe Self Defence Training Company
I’ve spent many years standing in places where most people don’t expect violence to happen.
Municipal counters.
By-Law inspections.
Hospitals.
Housing offices.
Fire scenes.
Corporate reception areas.
Construction sites.
School hallways.
Airport terminals.
I’ve watched thousands upon thousands of interactions between employees and the public. Some lasted thirty seconds. Others turned into situations nobody saw coming.
After all these years, one thing has become crystal clear to me.
The first five seconds of an interaction will often tell you exactly where it’s going.
Not every time.
But far more often than most people realize.
The problem is that we’ve trained people to listen to words before they pay attention to behaviour.
I believe that’s backwards.
Words can lie.
Behaviour rarely does.
Violence Doesn’t Suddenly Appear
One of the biggest misconceptions about workplace violence is that it comes out of nowhere.
It doesn’t.
People don’t usually wake up one morning, walk into City Hall, a hospital, a fire station or a municipal office and instantly become violent.
Something is already happening.
They’re frustrated.
They’re embarrassed.
They’re angry.
They’re scared.
Sometimes they’re under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Sometimes they’re dealing with mental health issues.
Sometimes they’re simply people who’ve learned that intimidation gets them what they want.
Whatever the reason, behaviour begins changing long before anyone raises their voice.
That’s the part we should be paying attention to.
Your Brain Already Sees It
Have you ever met someone and immediately felt uncomfortable?
You couldn’t explain why.
Nothing had happened.
They hadn’t threatened you.
They hadn’t even said anything offensive.
But something just didn’t feel right.
People call it intuition.
I don’t.
I call it behavioural recognition.
Your brain is processing thousands of pieces of information every second.
Posture.
Movement.
Facial tension.
Eye contact.
Distance.
Speed.
Voice.
Hands.
None of this is magic.
It’s human behaviour.
The problem is we’ve taught people to ignore those observations because we don’t want to appear judgmental.
Observation isn’t judgment.
Observation is awareness.
There’s a huge difference.
The Conversation Starts Before Anyone Speaks
One of the things I teach in TRAACS is that every interaction begins before the first word is spoken.
How someone approaches you matters.
How quickly they’re moving matters.
Whether they’re respecting your personal space matters.
Where their attention is focused matters.
Whether they’re scanning the room matters.
Whether their hands disappear matters.
Whether they’re becoming emotionally fixated matters.
Every one of those behaviours is part of the conversation.
Unfortunately, most workplace violence training doesn’t begin until someone starts yelling.
By then, you’ve already missed part of the story.
We Need to Stop Waiting for Proof
One of the biggest mistakes I see is employees waiting for absolute confirmation that something is wrong.
They wait for the insult.
They wait for the threat.
They wait until someone pounds a fist on the counter.
They wait because they’re afraid they’ll overreact.
I understand that.
Nobody wants to misjudge another person.
But recognizing behavioural change isn’t accusing someone of being violent.
It’s recognizing that the interaction may require a different approach.
Those are two completely different things.
This Is Why TRAACS Was Built
People sometimes ask me whether TRAACS is another Use of Force program.
It isn’t.
TRAACS was never designed around controlling people.
It was designed around understanding people.
Because if we understand how human behaviour changes under stress, frustration, anger and emotional overload, we can often make better decisions before situations become dangerous.
Sometimes that decision is communication.
Sometimes it’s creating distance.
Sometimes it’s bringing another employee into the conversation.
Sometimes it’s simply recognizing that the person standing in front of you isn’t thinking rationally anymore.
Those decisions are only possible if you recognize the behavioural changes early enough.
Prevention Happens Before Violence
When organizations tell me they want workplace violence prevention training, I always ask them one question.
“At what point do you want to prevent it?”
Before the yelling?
Before the threats?
Before security is called?
Before someone gets hurt?
Or after?
Because once violence starts, we’re no longer talking about prevention.
We’re talking about response.
There’s a huge difference.
Real prevention happens before the incident ever becomes an incident.
Final Thoughts
I’ve never believed that the answer to workplace violence is teaching everyone how to fight.
I’ve always believed the answer is teaching people how to think.
How to observe.
How to recognize behaviour.
How to understand what’s unfolding in front of them.
How to make better decisions sooner.
Because in my experience, those first five seconds aren’t just the beginning of an interaction.
They’re often the moment when the entire outcome quietly starts to take shape.
And if we can learn to recognize that moment, we’ve already taken the first step toward preventing the violence that might otherwise follow.
Rob Andress
Violence Prevention Specialist / Self Defence Expert
Street Safe Self Defence Training Company
About the Author
Rob Andress is a Leader in Canada, surrounding the reality of Violence Prevention Specialist. A Self Defence Expert, and the founder of Street Safe Self Defence Training Company. For more than two decades, he has worked with municipalities, By-Law Services, corporate organizations, healthcare providers, emergency services, security professionals, school boards, and REALTOR® associations across Canada, helping frontline employees better understand human behaviour, workplace violence prevention, and personal safety.
Rob is the creator of the TRAACS (Tactical Risk Awareness & Applied Combatives System) behavioural training framework, developed to help organizations recognize, assess, and respond to escalating human behaviour before incidents become acts of violence.
Today, Rob Andress and Street Safe Self Defence Training Company are highly sought after throughout the municipal, By-Law, and security sectors for their practical, behaviour-based approach to workplace violence prevention. Their programs move beyond traditional compliance training, equipping frontline professionals with the skills to recognize risk earlier, make better decisions under pressure, and create safer outcomes for both employees and the public.
To learn more about TRAACS and Street Safe’s workplace violence prevention programs, visit www.streetsafeselfdefence.com
Why Municipalities Can’t Afford to Train in Silos
TRAACS – Tactical Risk Awareness & Applied Combatives System
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) – Workplace Violence Prevention
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety – Violence in the Workplace