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Workplace Safety Initiative 

According to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, health care and social assistance workers are nearly five times more likely to be injured and require time away from work as a result of workplace violence. Oregon's hospitals are committed to the safety of their workers and believe that no incidence of violence should be tolerated. 

To help address this issue, OAHHS convened the Workplace Safety Initiative (WSI) Work Group in 2014 to find ways to collaboratively work on solutions. 
 
Work group members included representatives from SEIU Local 49, the Oregon Nurses Association, and representatives from various OAHHS member hospitals in Oregon. 
 
The goals of the WSI project are to:
  • Identify and implement evidence-based programs to reduce injuries from patient handling and workplace violence and foster sustainable cultural change.
  • Strengthen relationships with partner organizations around health care worker and patient safety issues.
  • Disseminate lessons learned and tools developed to all hospitals in Oregon to assist implementation of sustainable effective workplace safety programs.
To reach these goals, the group developed a pilot project working with Oregon hospitals. Five volunteer hospitals of varying sizes from across the state participated  in the Workplace Violence project. The WPV pilot project with these pilot hospitals directly informed the materials in a comprehensive toolkit.

2018 Workplace Safety Training Registration 

This fall, the Oregon Association of Hospitals & Health Systems will be conducting three in-person interactive workshops that focus on developing effective workplace violence prevention programs. Attendees will be provided with practical information and tools that will allows them to develop or enhance an existing WPV program at their facility.
 
Hospitals are encouraged to send small groups of staff who are or will be involved in development and management of WPV programs. These attendees will participate in group-based work activities throughout the workshop with the goal of developing a draft WPV program plan for their facility.

Lynda Enos, RN, MS, COHN-S, CPE, author of the toolkit will conduct the workshops. These workshops are sponsored by the Oregon Association of Hospitals Research & Education Foundation.  
 
The three trainings will take place around the state.  The dates and locations are:
  • Wednesday, September 19 - 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
    • Location: Riverhouse on the Deschutes, 2850 NW Rippling River Ct, Bend, OR
  • Tuesday, October 9 - 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
    • Location: Oregon Medical Association, 1740 SW 68th Pkwy, Portland, OR
  • Wednesday, November 14 - 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
    • Location: PeaceHealth RiverBend Annex, 123 International Way, Springfield, OR
Registration for the Workplace Violence Prevention trainings is closed as the October and November workshops are at maximum capacity.  If you have questions, please contact Nancy Hinrichsen at nhinrichsen@oahhs.org.

Important information:
  • These workshops are intended for staff at Oregon hospitals only. Individuals not affiliated with an Oregon hospitals will not be able to attend the training.
  • There is no registration fee to attend a training.
  • Attendees only need to register for one workshop as each workshop is a repeat of the training.
  • Continental breakfast with coffee and lunch will be provided.

Workplace Violence Prevention Toolkit

This comprehesive toolkit, authored by Lynda Enos, RN, BSN, MS, COHN-S, CPE, will assist health care leadership and violence prevention committees and other stakeholders to:
  • Evaluate the workplace violence program and individual violence prevention practices at their facility or within their organization, against current best practices in violence prevention.
  • Identify and engage stakeholders and enhance the culture of worker and patient safety.
  • Develop or strengthen their workplace violence program and policy by identifying process that can be implemented to manage or control violence, and can address the risk of violence proactively.

DOWNLOAD FULL PDF (Narrative only)


The toolkit has been endorsed by:
 

Individual Sections & Tools

Workplace Violence Prevention Sections  TOOLS
Introduction 
Section 1:
Understanding Workplace Safety

Section 2: Getting Started

Section 3: Hazard Identification and Assessment 

Section 4: Developing the WPV Program 

Section 5: Hazard Abatement 

Section 6: Education and Training 

Section 7: Implementing the WPV Program 

Section 8: Evaluating the WPV Program 

Section 9: Sustaining the WPV Program 

Section 10: Additional Resources 

For more information regarding the Workplace Safety Initiative, please contact Katie Harris at kharris@oahhs.org or 503-479-6027.

Internet Citation: Workplace Violence in Healthcare: A Toolkit for Prevention and Management. Content last reviewed December 2017.  Oregon Association of Hospitals Research & Education Foundation, Lake Oswego, OR. http://www.oahhs.org/safety

Reproduction and Use of Materials

Permission is granted to use such copyrighted material solely for non-commercial, instructional, personal, or scholarly purposes. The material may be used and incorporated into other workplace safety and health programs on the condition that no fee may be charged for the subsequent use or adaptation of the material. Use of the material for any other purpose, particularly commercial use, without the prior, express written permission of the copyright owner/s is prohibited.

For organization and entities that are not hospitals in Oregon, it is requested that you notify the Oregon Association of Hospitals Research and Education Foundation (email Katie Harris at kharris@oahhs.org) prior to using the copyrighted materials.
 
Internet Citation: Workplace Violence in Health Care: A Toolkit for Prevention and Management. Content last reviewed December 2017.  Oregon Association of Hospitals Research & Education Foundation, Lake Oswego, OR. http://www.oahhs.org/clinical-quality/workplace-violence-initiative