t a hotel in Bermuda this year a reliable female employee of 20 years turned violent on a co-worker. She lost her temper... snapped and slapped a colleague, who hit her back.

Following the scuffle, the management called in the Employee Assistance Programme to see if they could sort out the problem ? and stop it happening again.

In many other organisations, the Police would have been called and the employees fired on the spot.

Professionals say that sometimes things have already gone too far by the time they are called in, and management should be on the look-out for warning signs at much earlier stages.

And they say there are reliable ways of detecting these kinds of problems well before they flare up into actual acts of violence.

This reported incident was fairly minor, but violence has been escalating to ?epidemic proportions? in the US, Canada and UK, where employers are worried that the offices or factories they run are no longer safe.

And recently passed legislation in Canada, the Westray Bill or C-45, puts the onus on employers to make sure that their work environments are safe. In this loosely worded legislation, if an employee is injured while at work and there was something management could have done to make it safer, the employer can be held criminally responsible for the action. This has made Canadian businesses sit up and take notice of violence in the work place and made them implement some fairly strict measures to make sure they have enough preventative measures put in place.

?This is not just an American issue,? said Paul Viollis, US workplace security expert who will visit the Island next month. ?It is truly a global issue with problems in the US, Canada, Europe and even Asia. Violence has become a quasi-acceptable way of resolving disputes.?

And he has found that as a security expert, more and more of his time is being spent on workplace violence and teaching businesses how to recognise and stop it. ?Workplace violence is a very real and growing threat in the world today,? he said. ?As many as 2 million violent acts are reported each year in the United States alone.

?The majority of the violent acts are simple assaults; however, homicide is the leading cause of death for women in the workplace and the second leading cause of death for men according to the US Department of Labour.

?The cost of workplace violence in America exceeds $40 billion annually. Apart from the lone gunman launching a robbery, workplace violence is never spontaneous and always avoidable providing the appropriate controls are crafted and implemented within the workplace.?

He said that many organisations traditionally have regarded workplace security as a low priority rather than a fundamental operational function and responsibility.

But this sense of security and complacency continues to erode as evidenced by an increase in workplace shootings and it was now essential to recognise and prepare for all threats to the workplace and employees, including violence in the workplace whether from a client, stranger, or employee.

?People in Bermuda should be applauded on addressing the issue, we don?t want to see it escalate to the same kind of numbers you see in the rest of the world,? said Mr. Viollis.

?Most people say it is not an issue for them ? until it is too late and there is a problem.?