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Occupational Violence and Aggression: Preparing Security and Public-Facing Staff Through Proactive Measures
Dr Tony Zalewski(Australia)
Key Learning Outcomes
• Understand OVA including prevalence and predictive factors
• Understand a framework for managing OVA
• Apply best practice methods to minimise the risk of OVA.
What is OVA?
“Any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation or other threatening behaviour associated with work”
WHO 2002Passive Words or
Looks
Death
Common Forms of OVA?
• Physical – uses part of body or object against another
• Psychological – uses threats / causes fear against another
• Emotional – does or says something to make person feel useless
• Sexual – person is an unwillingly participant in sexual activity
Who Commits OVA?
• Criminals – no legitimate business relationship i.e. robber
• Clients – actual or potential recipient of business service
• Work colleagues – employee, former employee, contractor, etc
• Intimate partners – current or former partner, etc
Data Sources
• Security and Safety Reports
• Crime Reports
• Worker’s Compensation Activity
• Mandatory Reports to Authorities
• Hospital/Medical Records
• Court Records
• Research / Literature
Impact / Costs of OVA
Direct Indirect Other
• Accidents
• Illness
• Disability / Death
• Absenteeism
• Staff turnover
• Reduced work
performance
• Decreased work
outputs
• Decreased
competitiveness
• Reputational
damage
• Decreased worker
motivation
• Diminished worker
loyalty
Global Outlook
• USA
• UK
• Australia
Consistent
recommendation
SRA
Risk Assessment Process
1.
Assets To Be Protected
2.
Existing Security System
3.
Threat Assessment
4.
Vulnerability Analysis
5.
Assessment Analysis
6.
Security Policy
7.
Security Management Plan
8.
Physical / Personnel
9.
Protocols
10.
Review
Snapshot – USA (Occupational Safety & Health Admin)
• ~ 2 million American workers are victims of OVA annually
• In 2017: 458 OVA deaths (3rd leading cause of fatal work injuries)
• Between 2013 – 2016: WP assaults increased 74%
• Healthcare 11% annual days lost to av 3% all other sectors
OSHA 2017
Snapshot – UK (Health & Safety Executive)
• ~ 374,000 workers OVA victims - 51% involved physical injury
• Steady increase in OVA incidents over last 8 years
• Healthcare and public-facing work more prominent in data
• Healthcare report >150 OVA incidents daily
HSE 2018
Snapshot – Australia (Safe Work Aust)
• ~ 110,000 Australian workers are victims of OVA annually
• 22% of all sector workers reported OVA in 2017
• 60% of healthcare workers reported OVA in 2017
• VicPol ~ 3,000 and NSW Police ~ 2,600 during 2017
• ~ 39% of all workers injured claim a mental disorder from OVA
SWA 2017
Emerging Themes
• Steady increase across all sectors
• Drug, alcohol and mental health-related incidents prominent
• Healthcare and/or public-facing staff at greater risk
• Under or non-reporting common
Predictive Factors – Incident Analysis
• Worker usually isolated - absence of “capable guardianship”
• Poor access control to immediate area i.e. receptionist …
• Deficiencies in “layers of security”
• Poor covert protections i.e. duress alarm, safe escape route …
• Deficiencies in training i.e. awareness, OVA, teamwork …
• Deficiencies or absence of protocols …
Work health and safety duties
(i) Duties fall to employers and those who manage or control work
(ii) Duty to ensure workers and others not exposed to risks i.e SRA
(iii) Risk assessment needs to identify:
- Risk factors present in the workplace
- Incidents in the workplace or similar workplaces
- Frequency of incidents in the workplace or similar workplaces
- Adequacy of treatments/controls
OVA study in Australia
• High level of worker injuries
• Anecdotal evidence – approaches
shallow, irregular and unplanned
• Litigation disclosed there were
ongoing systemic issues
RQ - What practices did organisations adopt for OVA?
Lit Review – Best Practice
• Environment
• Design
• Physical
• Personnel
• Protocols
Operational
Systems
How the study was conducted
• Mixed methods
• 40 public and private organisations
• Similar in size and structure >500 <1500
• Substantial public-facing staff/services
• Methodology: (i) survey (ii) semi-structured
interviews across focus groups (iii) system
reviews
Key areas investigated
• Framework/Policy for OVA?
• Proactive and reactive approaches?
• Formal/Informal systems?
• Induction and training in OVA?
• Trainer qualifications/competency?
• Training content and duration? i.e.
communication, skills acquisition,
assessment methods …
Major Findings (40 organisations)
• All organisations had reported OVA incidents over last 5 years
• All organisations utilised a Risk Register
• 7 organisations identified OVA in their Risk Register
• 5 had an OVA Policy and 9 had OVA procedures
• 11 inducted staff in security/safety awareness for OVA
• Training mode/content varied substantially (induction and other)
• 4 conducted regular (annual) OVA staff trg i.e. initial and refresher
• 2 reviewed their systems for OVA in last 3 years
Better Performing Organisations
• Focus on job characteristics not perpetrators
• Formalised systems
• Focused management / supervisor(s)
• Involved workers
• Delivered regular CBT
• Ongoing risk assessments / reviews
OVA Risk Management Framework
Framework influenced by:
(i) Organisational needs
(ii) Sector practices
(iii) Standards and Guidelines
(iv) Compliance and
regulatory issues
Elements:
(i) Governance
(ii) OVA proactive system
(iii) Training
(iv) OVA reactive system
(v) Reporting, investigation
& review
