Dive Brief:

• While still relatively rare across the U.S., workplace active shooter events are happening more often, and are among the most devastating man-made disasters employees can face.

• Melissa Gonzalez Boyce, a legal editor for XpertHR, says that with headlines still haunting cities such as San Bernadino and Orlando, more employers are seeing the need for policies to prepare employees.

• Yes, it's an uncomfortable topic, she adds, but even so, HR and employers need to implement measures to increase employee awareness and improve the odds of preventing and/or responding to an active shooting in the workplace.

Dive Insight:

XperHR's Boyce offers six steps that might prevent or at least minimize the loss of life should and active shooter event happen.

It starts with a "zero tolerance" workplace violence policy, but the real nitty gritty resides in strategies such as creating an emergency action plan, offering training to employees, conducting drills, performing safety and security audits, and finally, developing a plan to manage the aftermath of an active shooter incident.

Boyce says HR executives should serve as champions for those policies and measures, even though the odds of such an event happening remain rare.