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72 300-BXB-01-IGDO © 2025, Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS) 1 877 494 WSPS (9777) | 905 614 1400 | www.wsps.ca 70 Developing Workplace Violence and Harassment Policies and Programs: A Toolbox Safety planning is a way to increase the victim's safety. By examining possible steps that victims of domestic violence – and those around them – can take to minimize the risk of violence, you can increase safety in your workplace. Safety plans look at the steps that can be taken at different points in time or in various situations (when at work, while living with the abuser, getting ready to leave the abuser, leaving the abuser, after leaving the abuser, and protecting children and family pets). Creating a safety plan requires experience in risk and threat assessments, so you may want to connect with services in your community to get expert help with completing the plan. Below, you will find information on the general features of a safety plan, as well as where to go for help with creating one. A safety plan: • identifies actions to increase the worker safety; • is prepared in advance based on the possibility of further violence; • needs to be created with the affected employee as she knows the abuser's patterns of behaviour, the higher- risk times, and the resources available to her; • suggests actions that the worker and employer can take – it doesn't dictate absolute steps; • recognizes that the abuser's behaviour cannot be controlled, but that the plan may increase the worker's safety, her co-workers' safety, or the safety of her children; and • is fluid – it needs to be reviewed regularly and revised as needed to respond to changes. A workplace safety plan generally will look at: • increased security measures for the victim while at work or travelling to and from work (panic buttons, caller i.d., door security, code words, photo of abuser supplied to security, escorts to car or public transportation) • record-keeping options for possible police evidence (e.g., threatening voice mails or emails) • emergency contact person if the employer is unable to reach the worker • alternative work arrangements to adjust the worker's schedule or location in order to increase the worker's safety Services that provide safety planning include: • The Assaulted Women's Helpline at 1-866-863-0511 and TTY 1-866-863-7868. They offer anonymous and confidential crisis support for abused women in Ontario in 154 languages. Service representatives discuss the warning signs of abuse and give practical advice on safety planning and other community resources. • Shelternet at www.shelternet.ca or 416-642-5463. They provide information for abused women, their family, friends, and colleagues on a variety of topics, including finding shelter and safety planning. • Shelters for abused women. Their phone numbers can be found in your community telephone listings. They provide emergency shelter and support services to women and their children in various stages of their abusive relationship, including safety planning. Creating a Safety Plan WSPS.CA

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