Assaulted at 1 a.m. — Why El Furniture Warehouse Had No Violence Program When It Needed One

Assaulted During a Customer Removal — What an OHSA Violence Program Actually Requires

Let's talk about what happened at El Furniture Warehouse's London location at 645 Richmond Street on November 5, 2023. It was approximately 1 a.m. A floor manager asked a worker who was acting as a host to tell a customer to leave. This is not an unusual request in a late-night bar environment. It is also one of the most predictable scenarios in which a worker is exposed to violence from patrons or their companions. The worker approached the patron and began speaking with them. A companion of the patron struck the worker. Both fell to the floor. As the worker tried to stand, the patron struck them again. The worker required hospital treatment. A Ministry investigation found that El Furniture Warehouse had, at the time of the incident: no procedures for summoning immediate assistance when violence occurred; no communication radios or equivalent tools for workers to call for help; no security guards on duty. The company had also not completed a workplace violence risk assessment — despite the fact that previous incidents of violence had occurred at the same location. Richmond Street Warehouse Restaurant Ltd. pleaded guilty in London Provincial Offences Court and was fined $55,000 plus a 25% victim fine surcharge under Section 32.0.2(2) of the OHSA.

What the Law Requires

Section 32.0.2(2) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act requires employers to develop and maintain a program to implement their workplace violence policy. That program must include measures and procedures for summoning immediate assistance when workplace violence occurs or is likely to occur. Basically, what this means is simple: a workplace violence policy document is not the same as a violence program. The program must include specific, operational procedures — how a worker calls for help, who responds, what the escalation path is, and what controls are in place to prevent violence from escalating to injury in the first place. For a late-night hospitality business, the court expects that the violence risk assessment would have identified patron removal, intoxicated customer interactions, and late-night crowd dynamics as foreseeable hazards. A business that has had previous incidents of violence at a specific location and still has not completed a risk assessment or developed a program is not exercising due diligence — it is waiting for the next incident to happen. In the court's view, this was not a random unforeseeable act of violence — it was a foreseeable workplace violence scenario that the company was legally required to plan for and equip workers to handle. The $55,000 fine reflects the directness of the omission: no risk assessment, no program, no means for the worker to summon help, no security, previous incidents at the same site.

What Supervisors Must Do

• Before assigning any worker to a task that involves direct patron interaction — especially customer removal or conflict de-escalation — confirm they have been trained on the company's violence response procedures
• Ensure communication tools (radios, panic buttons, designated call signals) are accessible and functional on every shift before it begins — specifically on late-night shifts in high-traffic environments
• When a patron removal or conflict situation is escalating, summon backup before it reaches physical contact — do not send a single worker to handle a potentially violent situation without support
• Know the violence response plan for your location: where is the nearest radio, who is the designated responder, and what is the procedure if a worker needs immediate assistance
• Keep asking: 'If a patron became violent right now, what would my worker do first — and can they actually do it from where they're standing?'

What Employers Must Do

• Complete a workplace violence risk assessment for every location, specifically addressing late-night operations, patron removal scenarios, intoxicated patron interactions, and crowd control situations
• Develop a workplace violence program that includes specific procedures for summoning immediate assistance — not a general policy statement, but an operational plan that workers can execute in the moment
• Provide communication tools (radios, panic buttons, or equivalent) on every shift at every location where patron-interaction violence is a foreseeable risk
• Ensure security staff are present during high-risk operational hours; for late-night bars and entertainment venues, security during peak hours is not a luxury — it is a control
• Train all workers on the violence program, including how to summon help, when to escalate to security, and what the de-escalation protocol is for patron removal situations
• Review your violence risk assessment and program after every incident of workplace violence, even if it did not result in injury; use previous incidents as data for upgrading your controls

How to Use This Case in Your Workplace

This case is a valuable safety conversation starter. Use it during workplace violence training sessions for all staff in hospitality, retail, and service industries, monthly safety meetings for supervisors managing late-night or customer-facing operations, and annual workplace violence program reviews. Walk your team through the scenario and ask: 'If a patron became violent right now and a worker needed help immediately, what would they do first — and how long would it take for help to arrive?' 'Has a violence risk assessment been completed at this location that specifically covers patron removal and late-night crowd scenarios?' 'Does every worker know the procedure for summoning immediate assistance, and have they practised it?' This case reinforces a simple message: a workplace violence policy on paper does not protect workers. The program that implements that policy — with real tools, real training, and real procedures — is what Section 32.0.2(2) requires.