Workplace Violence Prevention: How Active Shooter Training Helps Prepare Employees

Workplace safety extends far beyond preventing slips, falls, equipment accidents, and other traditional occupational hazards. Employers and HR professionals must also consider how their organizations would respond to threats of violence and other potentially dangerous situations.

Although active shooter incidents remain relatively rare, their consequences can be devastating. Recent data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation reinforces the importance of preparedness without suggesting that organizations should operate from a position of fear.

The FBI designated 34 active shooter incidents in the United States in 2025, a 42% increase from 24 incidents in 2024. Although that represented a significant year-over-year increase, the 2025 total remained below the five-year average of 43 active shooter incidents annually.

The FBI also found that nearly 68% of the incidents identified in 2025 involved some degree of planning and preparation by the shooter, compared with 58% in 2024.

For employers, HR professionals, managers, and employees, these findings reinforce an important workplace safety principle: preparation should begin before an emergency occurs.

Workplace Violence Is Broader Than Active Shooter Incidents

Workplace violence does not always involve a firearm or begin with a sudden physical attack.

Potential workplace violence situations can involve employees, former employees, customers, clients, patients, visitors, vendors, or individuals who have a personal relationship with an employee. Problems may begin with threats, intimidation, escalating conflicts, aggressive behavior, or other concerning conduct.

Because workplace violence can take different forms, prevention should not be viewed exclusively as the responsibility of a security department.

Human resources may become aware of concerning behavior during an employee dispute. A supervisor may observe changes in an employee’s conduct. A receptionist may encounter an aggressive visitor. Employees may hear statements or witness behavior that makes them concerned about their own safety or the safety of others.

Organizations need procedures employees can follow when these situations occur.

The objective is not to teach employees to diagnose someone’s intentions or personally investigate potentially dangerous individuals. Instead, employees should understand how to recognize concerns, where to report them, and when an immediate threat requires emergency assistance.

Preparedness Should Begin Before an Emergency

One of the worst times for employees to learn an organization’s emergency procedures is while an emergency is already unfolding.

Preparation needs to happen beforehand.

Organizations should consider how employees would receive emergency notifications, where they could evacuate, what areas might provide shelter, how visitors would be handled, and how employees should communicate safety concerns.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration identifies workplace violence among the emergencies employers should consider when developing emergency procedures. OSHA also notes that emergency planning should consider special evacuation actions that may be necessary during an active shooter or other dangerous-intruder situation.

An Emergency Action Plan, commonly called an EAP, can help organize employer and employee actions during workplace emergencies.

It is important, however, to distinguish good emergency planning from a universal legal requirement.

An EAP is required when a particular OSHA standard requires an employer to maintain one. Regardless of whether a particular requirement applies, organizations can benefit from evaluating emergency procedures and ensuring employees understand their roles.

A written plan has limited value if employees do not know what it contains.

That is where education and training become especially important.

Employees Need to Understand Their Response Options

An active shooter situation can develop rapidly, and circumstances can change within seconds.

Employees therefore need to understand their options before an emergency occurs.

The FBI uses an options-based approach commonly known as Run, Hide, Fight.

Run

When there is a safe opportunity to evacuate, employees should understand the importance of moving away from danger.

The appropriate route may not necessarily be the exit an employee normally uses to enter and leave the workplace. Situational awareness becomes critical because the location of a threat can affect which routes are safe.

Once employees reach a safe location, they should contact emergency services when possible and follow instructions from authorities.

Hide

When safely escaping is not possible, employees may need to hide.

Depending on the environment and circumstances, this can include moving out of the attacker’s view, securing or barricading doors when possible, silencing mobile devices, and remaining as quiet as possible.

Employees should understand their workplace well enough to recognize possible locations that could provide protection or concealment.

Fight

Fighting is considered a last resort when someone’s life is in imminent danger and running or hiding is no longer an option.

The purpose of training is not to convince employees that there will always be one correct response.

Instead, effective active shooter training helps people understand the available options so they are better prepared to make decisions during an extremely stressful and rapidly changing emergency.

Recognizing and Reporting Concerning Behavior

Emergency response is only one component of workplace violence preparedness.

Prevention deserves equal attention.

The FBI reported that nearly 68% of active shooter incidents designated in 2025 involved planning and preparation. The FBI’s 2025 report also introduced examples of potentially averted active shooter incidents in which information was provided to the FBI, local law enforcement, school resource officers, campus police, or other authorities.

That reinforces the importance of reporting credible concerns.

Employees should understand basic questions such as:

• Who should receive a workplace safety concern?
• How should threatening behavior be documented?
• When should management or HR become involved?
• When should security or law enforcement be contacted?
• What should an employee do if a threat appears immediate?

Employees should never be expected to investigate potentially dangerous individuals themselves.

Instead, organizations should establish appropriate procedures for escalating concerns to HR leadership, security professionals, legal counsel, law enforcement, or other qualified resources when circumstances warrant it.

De-Escalation Can Be an Important Workplace Safety Skill

Not every difficult interaction becomes violent.

Employees nevertheless encounter frustrated customers, workplace disagreements, emotionally charged conversations, disciplinary situations, and other conflicts.

That makes de-escalation another valuable component of workplace violence prevention.

Appropriate training can help employees understand how their communication and behavior may affect a tense interaction, how to recognize when a situation is escalating, and when they should disengage and seek assistance.

This can be particularly relevant for HR professionals, managers, supervisors, customer-facing employees, and organizational leaders who routinely navigate difficult conversations.

However, employees should also understand the limitations of de-escalation.

De-escalation does not mean employees should put themselves in danger or attempt to personally resolve every threatening situation. When an individual presents an immediate threat, personal safety and appropriate emergency response should take priority.

What Should Employees Do When First Responders Arrive?

An often-overlooked component of active shooter preparedness is what happens when law enforcement and emergency personnel arrive.

Employees may be frightened, injured, confused, or attempting to evacuate while responding officers are simultaneously trying to identify and stop the threat.

The FBI advises individuals evacuating an active shooter scene to keep their hands visible and follow law enforcement instructions.

Employees should understand that first responders may not immediately stop to assist every injured person because their first priority may be locating and stopping an ongoing threat.

Preparing employees for this part of an emergency can help reduce confusion and improve cooperation with responding authorities.

Bleeding Control Can Extend Emergency Preparedness

Workplace preparedness does not necessarily end once the immediate threat has stopped.

Serious injuries can require attention before emergency medical personnel are able to reach everyone who needs assistance.

For that reason, some workplace safety and active shooter training programs incorporate bleeding-control education.

Training may help participants understand basic principles for responding to severe bleeding and assisting an injured person until professional medical care becomes available.

Organizations may also consider whether bleeding-control kits or other emergency supplies are appropriate for their facilities.

The appropriate level of training should always reflect employees’ roles, the workplace environment, organizational policies, and applicable requirements.

Should Every Employee Receive Active Shooter Training?

Organizations sometimes focus workplace violence or active shooter training exclusively on HR personnel, executives, security teams, or front-line employees.

That approach can leave significant gaps.

An emergency can affect employees throughout an organization regardless of their title or department.

An employee could be in an office, conference room, warehouse, lobby, break room, parking area, or another location when an incident occurs.

Broad workplace preparedness helps establish a common understanding of how concerns should be reported and how employees may respond during an emergency.

The objective is not to create fear.

It is to give employees practical knowledge they can draw upon if they ever face a serious workplace threat.

Building a More Prepared Workplace

No workplace violence prevention program can eliminate every possible threat, and no active shooter training program can guarantee how an emergency will unfold.

Preparedness is about improving an organization’s ability to recognize concerns, communicate effectively, respond appropriately, and help employees understand their options.

Employers and HR leaders should periodically evaluate workplace violence policies, reporting procedures, emergency plans, employee education, and coordination with first responders.

They should also ask a simple question:

If an emergency happened today, would our employees know what to do?

If the answer is unclear, additional preparation may be necessary.

Organizations do not need to approach workplace violence from a position of fear. They can approach it through education, planning, communication, and practical training.

Preparation cannot guarantee that an emergency will never occur.

It can help employees become better prepared if one does.

Prepare Your Workforce with HREN Active Shooter and Workplace Violence Training

HR Education Network offers Active Shooter and Workplace Violence Training for Businesses designed to help organizations educate and prepare their employees for workplace violence and emergency situations.

Training covers potential sources and signs of workplace violence, pre-attack indicators, prevention and response strategies, de-escalation, personal survival response, interaction with law enforcement and first responders, and bleeding-control training.

HREN offers in-person, virtual, and hybrid training options, making it possible to provide this important education across individual teams or an entire organization.

Don’t wait for an emergency to discover whether your workforce is prepared.

⁠Learn more about Active Shooter and Workplace Violence Training for Businesses and explore training options for your organization.