776 Preventing Workplace Violence in Healthcare

Employee Involvement

Through involvement and feedback, workers can provide useful information to employers to design, implement and evaluate the program. In addition, workers with different functions and at various organizational levels bring a broad range of experience and skills to program design, implementation, and assessment.

• Mental health specialists have the ability to appropriately characterize disease characteristics but may need training and input from threat assessment professionals.
• Direct care workers, in emergency departments or mental health, may bring very different perspectives to committee work.

The range of viewpoints and needs should be reflected in committee composition. This involvement should include:

• Participation in the development, implementation, evaluation, and modification of the workplace violence prevention program;
• Participation in safety and health committees that receive reports of violent incidents or security problems, making facility inspections and responding to recommendations for corrective strategies;
• Providing input on additions to or redesigns of facilities;
• Identifying the daily activities that employees believe put them most at risk for workplace violence;
• Discussions and assessments to improve policies and procedures, including complaint and suggestion programs designed to improve safety and security;
• Ensuring that there is a way to report and record incidents and near misses, and that issues are addressed appropriately;
• Ensuring that there are procedures to ensure that employees are not retaliated against for voicing concerns or reporting injuries; and
• Employee training and continuing education programs.

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