On October 20, two American National Standards Institute (ANSI) members and accredited standards developers, ASIS International and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)announced the release of ASIS/SHRM WVP.1-2011, "Workplace Violence Prevention and Intervention." 

According to a post on the Mercer./ORC HSWE Networks website, the new standard establishes policies, processes, and protocols that organizations can adopt to identify and prevent threatening behavior and violence affecting the workplace, and to better address and resolve threats and violence that have occurred.

Mercer/ORC consultant Joanne Linhard says the standard also describes the implementation of a workplace violence prevention and intervention program, as well as protocols for effective incident management and resolution.

The standard‘s recommendations are broad in order to provide organizations the flexibility needed to implement prevention and intervention strategies appropriate for their workplaces. 

Copies of the standard are available for purchase on the ANSI website: webstore.ansi.org.