When organizations talk about safety and security, the conversation often centers on external threats: the unknown individual, the worst-case scenario, the crisis we hope never happens. But the data and our real-world experience tell us a very different story.
Today, some of the most serious risks organizations face come from within. Incidents of workplace violence and targeted harm increasingly involve individuals with a direct connection to the organization. This can include current employees, former employees, contractors, or individuals connected through a workplace relationship. These events are rarely sudden or unpredictable. In most cases, they are preceded by warning signs that were observed, discussed informally, or quietly dismissed.
The challenge is not a lack of concern. It’s a lack of structure.
Across industries, we continue to see the same pattern. Employees notice changes in behavior. Supervisors sense tension or escalation. HR teams are aware of grievances, stressors, or interpersonal conflict. Yet without a clear process for reporting, assessing, and responding to concern, organizations remain reactive and never intervene until after a situation has already escalated.
Recent workplace violence data reinforces this reality. Federal labor statistics show tens of thousands of nonfatal workplace violence incidents occur each year, many resulting in time away from work, trauma, and long-term disruption. Workplace homicides have also reached their highest levels in more than a decade, underscoring that violence connected to the workplace remains a persistent and growing concern.
What stands out in reviewing these incidents is not unpredictability, but missed opportunity.
In hindsight, many cases reveal observable behaviors that preceded the event, including escalated grievances, emotional distress, fixation, interpersonal conflict, or perceived injustice. These are not abstract warning signs. They are human signals that something was wrong. When organizations lack a consistent framework to evaluate and respond to these behaviors, concern often remains fragmented, undocumented, or delayed.
This is where many safety efforts fall short. At SEC, we often hear leaders say they care deeply about their people but feel uncertain about how to act early without overreacting, violating trust, or creating liability. As a result, organizations default to informal decision-making or hope that situations resolve on their own. Unfortunately, hope is not a strategy.
Behavioral Threat Assessment programs can provide organizations with the structure they are missing. It creates a disciplined, people-centered process for identifying concerning behaviors, assessing risk consistently, and determining appropriate next steps before a situation escalates into violence. Effective threat assessment is not about predicting who will commit harm. It is about recognizing patterns, reducing ambiguity, and enabling early intervention.
The cost of ignoring insider risk is high. Beyond the financial impact of workplace violence, the human cost can be significant: trauma, broken trust, disrupted teams, and long-term cultural damage. Organizations that fail to act early often find themselves responding under pressure, with fewer options and greater consequences.
This year, I strongly urge you to invest in prevention that sends a clear message to your workforce: we see concerning behavior, we take it seriously, and we are committed to addressing it with care and consistency.
As you move forward into the new year, you must be willing to confront insider risk honestly. That means moving beyond check-the-box policies and toward integrated prevention strategies that focus on assessment, planning, and training. It means giving employees a clear pathway to speak up and leaders a framework to act with confidence.
Safety is not a one-time initiative. It is a leadership responsibility.
The organizations that will be most resilient in the years ahead are not those who assume nothing will happen, but those who are prepared to recognize warning signs early and intervene before a situation turns into a crisis.
Meet the Author
Jason Russell
President + Founder of Secure Environment Consultants and a former Secret Service agent. He leads a national team of safety and security experts dedicated to helping organizations prepare for the unexpected through assessment, planning, and training.