[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Williamson 1-22-2008. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Harassment — See Ch. 39.
This policy and set of procedures define how the Town of Williamson
will respond to threats and incidents in the workplace and will help
to define the responsibilities of the many individuals who are involved
in responding to threats, incidents, and other safety risks in the
workplace. They do not supersede the rights individuals have as private
citizens to make civil or criminal complaints regarding other individuals.
On June 7, 2006, New York State enacted legislation creating
a new Section 27-b of State Labor Law that requires public employers
(other than schools covered under the school safety plan requirements
of the education law) to perform a workplace evaluation or risk evaluation
at each worksite and to develop and implement programs to prevent
and minimize workplace violence caused by assaults and homicides.
The law is designed to ensure that public employers regularly evaluate
the risk of workplace assaults and homicides and that workplace violence
protection programs are implemented to prevent and minimize the hazard
to public employees.
A.
Nothing is more important to the Town of Williamson (which includes
all Town departments and the Williamson Free Public Library) than
the safety and security of our employees and the general public. Threats,
threatening behavior, or acts of violence against employees, visitors,
guests, or other individuals by anyone on the Town of Williamson property
will not be tolerated.
B.
The Town of Williamson strives to meet the needs of its clients and
visitors in a professional and positive manner. Our aim is to be prepared
to handle any incidents that occur and to insure that all the Town
of Williamson staff, clients, and visitors are provided with a safe
environment.
C.
Workplace violence is defined as any behavior that is violent, threatens
violence, coerces, harasses or intimidates others, interferes with
an individual's legal rights of movement or expression or disrupts
the workplace.
Goals are as follows:
A.
To provide a safe environment for staff, clients, and visitors to
the Town of Williamson government and sites where we may conduct business
in the community and to ensure that all staff is familiar with the
security policy by conducting on-going training reinforcing the responsibility
of all staff to help create and maintain a safe environment for staff,
clients, and visitors.
B.
To provide guidance regarding direct or indirect threats to an employee,
when an employee believes (s)he will encounter a potentially dangerous
or violent situation, or under the circumstances at hand find a condition
unsafe requiring supervisory notification and/or some type of action.
C.
To ensure that staff understands the roles and responsibilities of
all parties in creating and maintaining a safe environment.
All staff (including volunteers and interns), clients, and visitors
of the Town of Williamson are covered.
A.
An employee who believes that a serious violation of the workplace
violence protection program exists shall bring such matter to the
attention of a supervisor in the form of a written notice and shall
afford the employer a reasonable opportunity to correct such activity,
policy, or practice. In cases of imminent danger employees should
take appropriate action to insure there is an immediate response to
address the situation, which may include calling 911. The action taken
should be followed up with a written notice.
B.
The employee will be asked to complete an incident report form. This
must take place immediately whenever possible but in no case more
than 24 hours after the threat or incident. If the incident has taken
place over a weekend, it may be reported on Monday morning.
C.
All Town of Williamson employees are responsible for notifying their
supervisor of any threats they have witnessed, received, or have been
told that another person has witnessed or received, or circumstances
that are such that are likely to pose a risk of threatening or violent
behavior. Employees should also report behavior they regard as threatening
or violent if that behavior is job-related or might be carried out
at a Town worksite.
D.
An employee who obtains a protective or restraining order that lists
Town locations as protected areas must provide a copy of the order
to his/her supervisor. The Town of Williamson will respect confidentiality
and recognize the privacy of the reporting employee(s).
E.
The employee or his/her supervisor is responsible for notifying the
Town Supervisor (and Director of the library if the matter takes place
in the library or involves library personnel) of threats and incidents
as soon as possible, but no later than the end of each business day.
All library employees will notify the Director of the Library in addition
to the Town Supervisor. The Town Supervisor must share appropriate
information with unit supervisors and/or the Director of the Library
when more than one unit is or is likely to be affected by the threat
or incident.
F.
The Town Supervisor is responsible for ensuring that the Town maintains
a complete file of incident reports and related documentation that
may include one or more voluntary statements that may accompany an
Incident Report. The Town Clerk will maintain this file. The Director
of the Library will separately maintain a file for incidents involving
the library or library employees.
G.
The unit supervisor is responsible for forwarding a copy of all incident
reports to the Town Supervisor and the original to the Town Clerk.
H.
Where an employee has reported an issue and the Town has not corrected
the matter after a reasonable period of time, the employee (or employee
representative) may request that the Department of Labor conduct an
inspection of the workplace. The Department of Labor can be reached
at 315-331-2011. A request to the Department of Labor for an inspection
must:
A.
If there is a threat or threatening situation that arises in the
workplace, any employee that is aware of the situation must follow
his/her department's procedures. This may include dialing 911.
B.
Bomb threats. If any employee receives a bomb threat in person, or
while talking with someone on the phone, the employee shall follow
the procedures on the bomb threat checklist that is available from
the Personnel Office.
C.
If an individual receives a threat by mail, e-mail, or on voice mail, do not erase the e-mail or voice mail message, and follow the procedures described in § 45-7, "Reporting."
D.
If an employee meets, either in the office or in the field, with
an individual known to have been violent or who the employee believes
may be threatening or violent, the employee must:
(1)
Notify his/her supervisor of the need to meet with such an individual
and of the possible threatening situation before the meeting takes
place.
(2)
The employee or supervisor will request assistance from their supervisor
if the meeting or visit will take place on agency premises.
(3)
The employee or supervisor must notify the unit supervisor if they
have asked for a law enforcement or security staff escort to a meeting
or visit for safety reasons.
E.
If an employee is working on Town business while offsite during non-business
hours and a situation arises that poses a threat to his/her safety,
the employee must call 911.
A.
The Town of Williamson will ensure that all employees are made aware
of their role in safeguarding staff, clients, and visitors. This will
be done by reviewing the security policy and procedures at new employee
orientation, through the distribution and availability of the policy
and procedures in paper and electronic formats, through review of
the policy and procedures, and through employee inquiry.
B.
The Unit Supervisor, the Town Supervisor, and the Director of the
Library will review incident reports regularly to evaluate trends
or necessary actions.
C.
If any staff person is called on by a law enforcement agency to complete
an affidavit regarding a work-related threat or incident, he/she will
receive the guidance of the Town Attorney. The Town of Williamson
staff shall not appear in court on a work-related issue without the
knowledge and guidance of a Town Attorney.
D.
Any staff person who feels his/her safety is threatened because of
work-related issues could request to have a case reassigned because
of such risk. Such requests must be made in writing to the employee's
supervisor. The employee will meet with the supervisor and unit supervisor,
if necessary, to discuss the reasons for the request. The Town Supervisor
is expected to consult with the unit supervisor regarding all such
requests to seek additional information as necessary to make a decision.
Unless otherwise notified by the supervisor, an employee will have
a response within five business days.
E.
Items of concern regarding safety and security will be brought to
the Town Supervisor and the Director of the Library as appropriate.
This group will review aggregate information regarding threats and
incidents on a regular basis and will make recommendations regarding
needed changes in policies and procedures.
F.
The Town Supervisor and the Director of the Library will coordinate
training in personal safety for all employees on a periodic basis.
G.
Any person who makes threats, exhibits threatening behavior, or engages
in violent acts on the Town of Williamson property will be removed
from the premises as quickly as safety permits and shall remain off
the Town of Williamson premises pending the outcome of an investigation.
The Town of Williamson's response to incidents of violence may
include suspension and/or termination of any business relationship,
reassignment of job duties, suspension or termination of employment,
and criminal prosecution as appropriate.
A.
The Town of Williamson has evaluated the risks in the workplace and
has identified risks associated with:
B.
The Town of Williamson will use the following methods to prevent
workplace violence, including:
(1)
Making high-risk areas more visible to more people.
(2)
Installing good external lighting.
(3)
Using drop safes or other methods to minimize cash on hand.
(4)
Posting signs stating that limited cash is on hand.
(5)
Providing training in conflict resolution and nonviolent self-defense
responses.
(6)
Establishing and implementing reporting systems for incidents of
aggressive behavior.
(7)
Posting no-trespassing signs where appropriate.
When criminal charges are filed against a client, the employee
must provide the client's name, address, and date of birth. No
other information from department records will be provided without
approval of the unit supervisor or the Personnel Officer and the County
Attorney.
A.
Employee role. It is extremely important, and every employee's
responsibility, to see that incident reports are submitted to his/her
supervisor.
B.
Supervisor's role.
(1)
Responsible to ensure that the incident report is submitted to the
unit supervisor if (s)he is not already aware of the situation.
(2)
The unit supervisor is responsible for reporting all incidents of
violence and/or threatened violence to the Town Supervisor and the
Director of the Library if the matter involves the library or a library
employee.
(3)
Affected employees will be notified by the Unit Supervisor of the
actions taken in response to the incident and what actions are possible
regarding the individuals in questions, or by law enforcement agencies,
such as the District Attorney's office.
In furtherance of this policy, employees have a duty to warn
their supervisors, security personnel, or human resource representatives
of any suspicious workplace activity, situation or incidents that
they observe or that they are aware of, involving other employees,
former employees, contractors, or visitors that appear problematic
to the extent that some type of intervention is likely to be required.
This includes, for example, threats or acts of violence, aggressive
behavior, offensive acts, threatening or offensive comments or remarks
and the like. The Town of Williamson will not condone any form of
retaliation against any employee for making a report under this policy.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A written declaration made under oath, before an authorized
official. Affidavits are used by law enforcement agencies and prosecutors
to garner the statements of parties involved in an incident or crime.
Affidavits are available to the defendant and his/her attorney if
an incident is prosecuted. They are often called supporting depositions
or voluntary statements.
Direct threats, physical aggression, verbal abuse, reckless
behavior or indifference to the safety of others.
Actual filing of a criminal complaint that results in an
arrest warrant or appearance ticket requiring the perpetrator to respond
in court to the charges.
An action that may have further consequences, i.e., medication
error, personal injury while on duty, or negative interaction with
a client.
Required Town form to document an incident. This form is
available from your supervisor.
Agencies who may be contacted in the event of an emergency,
including the State Police, the Town of Williamson, Wayne County Sheriff's
Office, and on some occasions, the FBI. All of the above agencies,
with the exception of the FBI, can be reached in an emergency by dialing
911.
An order of protection is an order of a court that prohibits
a person from specific contact with another person and can prohibit
a number of defined behaviors, including prohibiting a person from
appearing at a person's home or place of employment.
The person who makes a threat or commits an act of violence.
Criminal behavior, personal threats, physical contact and
stalking, domestic violence, including threats received at work or
at home arising out of an individual's status as a Town of Williamson
employee. Threats may be conveyed orally, physically, by telephone,
by mail or electronic mail, or through a third party.
A lawyer employed by the Town of Williamson to provide legal
advice to departments and staff.
The person who is threatened or toward whom an act(s) of
violence is directed.
Any behavior that is violent, threatens violence, coerces,
harasses or intimidates others, interferes with an individual's
legal rights of movement or expression or disrupts the workplace.
