Unions have a responsibility to make sure that workplace violence programs and policies are effective and fair, and reject those that are not helpful and violate the rights of the workers. Some of the common characteristics of bad policies and programs that unions should look out for are described in this section. If the program omits any of the parts listed below, it may not adequately resolve the problem of workplace violence. The policies described in this section generally result from management's attempt to address only the type of violence occurring among workers and managers rather than the more common types of violence committed by patients, clients and intruders. In addition to addressing only one type of violence, they often infringe on the rights of the worker and union.
Most professionals have serious problems with profiling.
After a violent incident occurs, it is easy to fit the assailant into a profile, but most people who fit lots of items on a profile will never become violent. Almost anyone can become violent if pushed beyond a certain point. Profiles sometimes use race, sex or age criteria that may violate anti-discrimination laws. Profiles can make things worse if an employee who may indeed become violent is singled out in a negative way. Even where profiling has some value in predicting future behavior, the time that such behavior can be predicted is usually too short to be of real use.