for the assistance of Mr. Bruce Blythe, the president and CEO of Crisis Management International (CMI) Inc.

About two hours after the remnants of the Alfred P. Murrah building was razed to the ground by demolition experts on Tuesday, Mr. Blythe was at Marriott's Castle Harbour Resort, telling participants at the International Risk Management Group annual conference about coming to grips with violence in the workplace.

He said his firm is heavily involved in assisting people in the area of the building who were traumatised by the bomb blast. He has 18 staff on the scene.

He said attacks in the workplace appear to be on the rise, although he said there was a low probability of being a victim of such an attack.

The second leading cause of death in the workplace in the US is murder. He outlined training that would be useful for staff that would help them identify colleagues who have made threats, and who may act on those threats.

He advocated a zero-tolerance policy to threats, fights, weapons, harassment and intimidation. He said employees need to know from the beginning that they will not be tolerated.

Training, especially for supervisors and other senior people, is useful to ensure that the policy and procedures are laid down and clearly understood by staff.

They need to know how to avoid situations in which the bosses themselves, unwittingly provoke an individual to go over the edge. Senior people in a firm should also be well versed in aggression management, knowing how to resolve conflicts and defuse dangerous situations.

He said there should also be an understanding among employees that when a serious threat is made against someone by a colleague, they need to notify management.

It is only by knowing of the threat, that someone can be warned and authorities can use counsellors to get to the root of the problem before it is too late.

Counselling is also useful after traumatic, or violent situations occur. He warned that if the policies are not properly addressed, in the event of an incident, a company can face a significant public relations issue.

"Typically when something violent happens, the media not only want to report your story, they are also looking for scandal. They are looking for blame, for ways to blame your organisation.

"Many times they make your organisation look like the one that has caused this poor innocent victim to come shooting. Too many times the media does that, causing grave problems with public relations as well as employee relations.'' Mr. Blythe, a certified psychologist, has appeared on ABC's 20 0 news magazine regarding murder in the workplace and on a CBS 48-hours programme called "Violence in the Workplace.'' He has been interviewed on CNN's Moneyline, CNN Headline News, and has appeared as an expert on other television shows, such as "America's Most Wanted'', assisting the FBI with corporate kidnapping cases.

Mr. Blythe and his company have handled over 200 corporate crises including the World Trade Center bombing, Hurricanes Andrew and Iniki, earthquakes in Los Angeles and San Francisco, multiple workplace murders, explosions, industrial accidents, corporate air disasters and many others.

He has assisted multiple corporations as a consultant in threats of violence situations. He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal. Personnel Journal, Newsweek and many other publications regarding violence and threats of violence in the workplace.

Mr. Blythe is a member of the American Psychological Association, American College of Forensic Psychology and International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies.

He is also on the board of directors for the International Association of Trauma Counsellors.