If any of the ASSP members reading this also have responsibility for Security and/or workplace violence prevention in your organizations you may want to consider the effects of returning to work on the potential for workplace violence within your company. We have in a significant increase in workplace violence in many of the essential businesses that remained open during the pandemic, primarily due to stress related to the pandemic combined with the growing political polarization of some parts of US society. 

As you employees return we anticipate a potential increase in inter-organizational workplace violence as workers who have been effected by the stress of the pandemic are further stressed by a new change in their routine. This may be exacerbated by the potential of effects caused by social media echo chambers that have been many people's primary avenues of social interaction for the past year. 

If you do not already have robust workplace violence prevention, insider threat, and threat assessment and management programs in place you should be working to improve these. Also remember, workplace violence is not limited to the catastrophic event such as an "active shooter." A lmost as damaging to a company's ability to function are the small acts of verbal workplace violence, threats, and bullying that can easily slip under the radar, but addressing these early on and then ensuring ongoing management of the issue can often prevent them from escalating into something much worse. 

Drew Neckar
https://www.securityadvisorscg.com