Workplace Violence Prevention and De-escalation

Confrontations between employees, assaults on frontline staff by members of the public and violence linked to retrenchments or disciplinary action are workplace realities that security and human resources teams must be ready to manage. This short course builds practical skills in recognising escalating behaviour, de-escalating a tense encounter safely and reporting incidents in line with duties under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

What you will be able to do

Recognise early behavioural warning signs that a workplace interaction is escalating toward violence.
Apply verbal de-escalation techniques to calm an angry employee, customer or member of the public.
Use positioning, exit routes and barriers to reduce personal risk during a hostile encounter.
Trigger a workplace response protocol when a threat, weapon or assault is reported.
Support an affected employee after an incident in line with trauma informed practice.
Record and report violent incidents to meet duties under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Course outline

01Understanding workplace violence triggers
02Recognising escalating behaviour
03Verbal de-escalation techniques
04Personal safety positioning and exits
05Responding to threats and weapons
06Post incident support for staff
07Reporting duties and record keeping
08Building a workplace violence policy

Who should attend

Frontline supervisors, human resources practitioners, receptionists, customer facing staff, security officers and line managers who deal with members of the public or manage disciplinary processes.

Dates, venues and fees

Dates	Venue	Days	Fee
17 to 18 Aug 2026	Durban	2	R10,000
24 to 25 Aug 2026	Johannesburg	2	R10,000
7 to 8 Sep 2026	Mauritius	2	US$1,100
14 to 15 Sep 2026	Dubai	2	US$1,100
21 to 22 Sep 2026	Lagos	2	US$1,100
28 to 29 Sep 2026	Harare	2	US$1,100
5 to 6 Oct 2026	Kampala	2	US$1,100
12 to 13 Oct 2026	Dar es Salaam	2	US$1,100
19 to 20 Oct 2026	Pretoria	2	R10,000
26 to 27 Oct 2026	Cape Town	2	R10,000
9 to 10 Nov 2026	Online	2	US$900
16 to 17 Nov 2026	Mozambique	2	US$1,100
23 to 24 Nov 2026	Cairo	2	US$1,100
30 Nov to 1 Dec 2026	Accra	2	US$1,100
7 to 8 Dec 2026	Lusaka	2	US$1,100
14 to 15 Dec 2026	Kigali	2	US$1,100
21 to 22 Dec 2026	Nairobi	2	US$1,100

Fees are per delegate. South African venues are priced in rand; other locations and online in US dollars. Fees exclude 15% VAT where applicable. Group bookings of three or more delegates from the same organisation qualify for a reduced rate; contact us for a quotation.

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Training a whole team?

We can run Workplace Violence Prevention and De-escalation privately for your team, on your dates and built around your own systems. Group delivery is usually more cost effective from about six delegates.

Run this in-house