Workplace Violence and Harassment Prevention Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends HR Managers, Employee Relations Specialists and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-LR-033

Before you join: Participants should have practical experience in HR, employee relations, people management, workplace safety, security or a related operational role.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Workplace violence, threats, harassment, bullying and retaliatory conduct can harm employees, interrupt operations and expose employers to legal, safety and labour-relations consequences. Effective prevention requires more than a policy statement. HR, managers, safety teams and employee representatives need clear behavioural standards, credible reporting routes, proportionate risk controls and a disciplined process for responding to concerns. They must also distinguish interpersonal conflict from harassment, assess imminent risks without stereotyping, and protect people while preserving procedural fairness.

This course examines prevention and response as a managed workplace system. Participants assess psychosocial and physical risk factors, draft policy provisions, establish reporting and triage processes, conduct trauma-informed intake conversations, and plan fair investigations. The programme addresses verbal de-escalation, threat indicators, domestic violence disclosures, third-party aggression, remote-work harassment, anti-retaliation controls and post-incident support. Participants use ISO 45003 concepts, ILO Convention No. 190 principles, risk registers, investigation plans and Plan-Do-Check-Act monitoring cycles.

Instruction combines short technical briefings with realistic case work from offices, banks, public services, health settings, field operations and customer-facing workplaces. Group analysis, role-based simulations and facilitated decision-making develop sound judgement under pressure. Participants leave with a reusable prevention and response toolkit, including a risk register, reporting and triage model, investigation-plan template, incident-response checklist and 90-day implementation plan. Successful participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course is suited to professionals with responsibility for people management, workplace safety, employee relations, investigations or organisational conduct. It is particularly useful where staff work alone, handle cash or sensitive services, interact with distressed customers, supervise dispersed teams or manage high-conflict employment matters.

What you will be able to do

  • Conduct a workplace violence and harassment risk assessment using a structured risk register.
  • Draft policy provisions covering prohibited conduct, reporting routes, confidentiality and non-retaliation.
  • Apply trauma-informed intake and triage methods to reports of harassment or violence.
  • Use verbal de-escalation techniques and emergency escalation protocols during threatening situations.
  • Develop an investigation plan with terms of reference, evidence sources and interview sequence.
  • Evaluate informal resolution, mediation and disciplinary options against safety and procedural fairness criteria.
  • Design post-incident support, return-to-work and corrective-action plans for affected employees.
  • Build prevention metrics and a 90-day implementation plan using PDCA review cycles.

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Improves confidence when receiving sensitive disclosures and assessing immediate safety concerns
  • Provides a repeatable method for separating conflict, misconduct, harassment and credible threats
  • Strengthens investigation planning, evidence handling and fair decision-making skills
  • Builds practical language for difficult manager, employee and witness conversations
  • Creates a personal 90-day plan for improving prevention and response arrangements

For your organisation

  • Reduces preventable harm through earlier identification of violence and harassment risks
  • Improves consistency of reporting, triage, investigation and corrective-action decisions
  • Strengthens protection against retaliation, poor case handling and procedural failures
  • Clarifies responsibilities between HR, managers, safety, security and employee representatives
  • Produces measurable prevention actions supported by incident data and management review

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can distinguish key forms of harmful conduct and map core employer responsibilities.

  • Violence, harassment, bullying and discrimination distinguished through behavioural definitions
  • ILO Convention 190 scope, protected persons and work-related settings
  • Employer duty-of-care obligations mapped against local labour and safety law
  • Intent, impact, reasonable-person tests and power imbalance assessed separately
  • Protected characteristics and intersectional harassment patterns identified without assumptions
  • Work-related locations, digital channels, travel and third-party contact included

Participants can identify violence and harassment hazards and prioritise proportionate prevention controls.

  • ISO 45003 psychosocial risk concepts applied to violence hazards
  • Risk-register entries specify hazard, exposed groups, controls and owners
  • Job, location, timing and task factors analysed systematically
  • Client aggression, domestic abuse spillover and lone working assessed
  • Psychosocial hazards linked to workload, change and organisational culture
  • Risk matrices calibrated using likelihood, severity and control effectiveness
  • Worker consultation and incident data inform risk prioritisation

Participants can design clear policy and reporting arrangements that support timely action.

  • Policy scope defines employees, contractors, customers and remote workers
  • Prohibited conduct examples distinguish incivility, harassment, threats and violence
  • Reporting routes include line management, HR, anonymous and emergency channels
  • Non-retaliation clauses set protections, consequences and monitoring responsibilities
  • Reasonable adjustments and accessibility requirements shape reporting arrangements
  • Policy language assigns duties to leaders, workers and third parties
  • Document control specifies approvals, review cycles and version ownership

Participants can recognise escalation indicators and select safe early-intervention responses.

  • Behavioural warning signs separated from protected traits and clinical diagnosis
  • Escalation curves identify triggers, observable cues and intervention points
  • Verbal de-escalation uses calm tone, boundaries, choices and active listening
  • Environmental controls address exits, alarms, staffing and safe meeting locations
  • Supervisor conversations use SBI feedback and documented behavioural expectations
  • Immediate danger decisions apply emergency escalation and personal safety protocols
  • Domestic violence disclosures receive confidential, safety-focused workplace responses

Participants can receive concerns appropriately and triage cases according to risk and urgency.

  • Intake protocols capture facts, dates, witnesses, evidence and immediate risks
  • Trauma-informed interviewing reduces harm while preserving reliable information
  • Confidentiality boundaries explained before collecting statements or digital evidence
  • Triage criteria separate emergency response, safeguarding, investigation and informal resolution
  • Conflict of interest checks protect impartiality and perceived fairness
  • Retaliation indicators trigger protective measures and documented follow-up
  • Case logs record decisions, rationales, owners, deadlines and access controls

Participants can plan and document impartial investigations into violence and harassment concerns.

  • Investigation plans define allegations, issues, witnesses, evidence and timelines
  • Terms of reference establish scope, authority, confidentiality and reporting lines
  • PEACE interviewing structure supports fair, non-leading witness accounts
  • Evidence chains preserve messages, CCTV, access records and device data
  • Balance-of-probabilities findings distinguish facts, credibility and corroboration
  • Procedural fairness provides notice, response opportunities and impartial decision-makers
  • Investigation reports separate evidence summaries, findings, rationale and recommendations

Participants can select proportionate resolution and support measures after a workplace concern.

  • Informal resolution suitability assessed against severity, power and safety risks
  • Mediation boundaries exclude coercion, serious misconduct and unsafe power imbalances
  • Corrective actions match substantiated findings, policy breaches and proportionality
  • Disciplinary decisions apply consistency checks and mitigating factors
  • Restorative options require voluntary participation, informed consent and safeguarding
  • Support referrals cover employee assistance, medical care and union representation
  • Return-to-work plans address contact restrictions, adjustments and review dates

Participants can strengthen leadership accountability and employee participation in prevention.

  • Leadership accountability translated into measurable conduct and response expectations
  • Bystander intervention uses direct, distract, delegate and document options
  • Psychological safety practices support speaking up and respectful challenge
  • Manager briefings reinforce boundaries, reporting routes and anti-retaliation duties
  • Union and worker representatives contribute consultation and trust-building channels
  • Third-party codes set behavioural standards for suppliers, clients and visitors
  • Remote-work etiquette addresses messaging, video conduct and digital exclusion

Participants can coordinate a safe, humane and controlled response to serious incidents.

  • Emergency response plans define roles, communications, evacuation and police liaison
  • Critical incident protocols protect people, preserve evidence and notify leaders
  • Post-incident support includes psychological first aid and practical assistance
  • Business continuity decisions account for site closure, staffing and communications
  • Media and internal messaging protect privacy while maintaining factual transparency
  • Post-incident reviews identify control failures, lessons and accountable actions
  • Memorials and workplace adjustments consider affected workers' cultural needs

Participants can measure prevention performance and implement targeted workplace improvements.

  • Leading and lagging indicators measure prevention activity, reporting and harm
  • Incident data segmented carefully to detect patterns without compromising privacy
  • Root-cause analysis distinguishes individual conduct from system contributors
  • PDCA cycles convert findings into controls, owners and review dates
  • Audit evidence tests policy awareness, case handling and control implementation
  • Dashboard metrics communicate trends, actions and residual risk to governance
  • Personal action plans prioritise first ninety-day prevention improvements

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Workplace violence and harassment risk register
  2. Prevention policy review checklist
  3. Reporting and triage decision tree
  4. Trauma-informed intake guide
  5. Workplace investigation plan template
  6. Ninety-day prevention implementation plan

Who should attend

  • HR Managers — responsible for prevention policies, case handling and employee support
  • Employee Relations Specialists — managing grievances, investigations and disciplinary processes
  • Health and Safety Managers — assessing psychosocial hazards and workplace violence controls
  • Line Managers and Supervisors — identifying concerns early and responding appropriately
  • Security Managers — coordinating threat response, site controls and emergency protocols
  • Union Representatives — supporting members and contributing to fair prevention arrangements

Skills and tools covered

Violence risk assessmentHarassment case triageWorkplace investigationsVerbal de-escalationPolicy designIncident response planning

Tools and standards

ISO 45003, ILO Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190), Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA), PEACE interviewing model

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish core concepts, followed by case analysis, group exercises, simulations and structured application planning. Participants assess reported conduct, prioritise risks, review policy language, plan interviews and make response decisions using realistic workplace scenarios. Simulations focus on receiving disclosures, setting boundaries, de-escalating tense interactions and communicating procedural steps. Facilitated discussion compares alternative responses against safety, fairness, confidentiality and organisational policy. Each participant adapts course tools to a current workplace prevention or response need.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience in HR, employee relations, people management, workplace safety, security or a related operational role. Familiarity with their organisation’s conduct policy, grievance procedure or incident-reporting process is useful. The course assumes participants can discuss sensitive workplace scenarios professionally and review written case information. Prior investigation experience is helpful but not required. No legal qualification, clinical training, security licence or prior training in threat assessment is required. The course provides management methods, not jurisdiction-specific legal advice.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should have experience in HR, management, employee relations, safety, security or a related operational function. No legal qualification, investigation credential or prior threat-assessment training is required.

Bring a copy of your organisation's relevant conduct, grievance, safety or incident-reporting policies if these can be shared appropriately. Participants may also bring a non-confidential prevention or case-handling challenge for use during application planning.

The course suits professionals who receive concerns, manage teams, investigate misconduct, assess safety risks or set workplace conduct standards. It is relevant to both office-based and customer-facing, field-based or remote-work environments.

General awareness training usually focuses on recognising prohibited conduct and personal responsibilities. This course develops the management systems and decision skills needed for risk assessment, intake, triage, investigation, de-escalation and post-incident action.

Participants leave with templates and decision tools that can be adapted to current policies and reporting arrangements. The final module produces a prioritised 90-day plan with actions, owners, controls and review points.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided among instructor briefings, case work, group exercises, simulations, facilitated discussion and application planning across ten modules.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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