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Management of Violence and Aggression in the Workplace

This course should be run in tandem with, and compliment your ‘Violence and Aggression at Work General Policy and Standards’ (if in place), current Health and Safety Regulations, and local emergency contingency planning guidelines. You should also be aware of your Organisation/Church guidelines relating to dealing with violence and the conditions of your terms of employment/voluntary status.

What is VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION?

• Violence can range from a life-threatening physical attack to verbal abuse.
• Verbal abuse and threats are the most common type of incident.

Agreeing a definition is the first step in setting up a system to prevent, control and manage the issue of violence at work.

The definition will help decide what the policy on violence should cover.

Why is it important?

• Violence at work leads to poor morale among staff and a poor image for the organisation.
• Staff recruitment and retention become difficult.
• Extra costs for absenteeism, higher insurance premiums and compensation payments can be incurred.
• For employees, violence can cause pain, distress, disability and even death.
• Persistent verbal abuse or threats can also damage employees’ health through anxiety or stress.
  

Who is affected/most at risk?

Anyone whose job requires them to deal with the public can be at risk from violence. This can include employees engaged in giving a service, education, caring professions, cash transactions, delivery and collection, and controlling or representing authority.

What does the law say?

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
• States that employers have a legal duty to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees.
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
• Place an obligation on employers to assess risks and where necessary take action to eliminate or control the risks.
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995
• Employers must notify their enforcing authority in the event of an accident at work to an employee. This includes any act of non-consensual physical violence done to a person at work.
The Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations (1997) (a) and The Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations (1996) (b)
• State that employers must inform and consult with employees on matters relating to their health and safety, and that employee representatives may make representations to their employer on matters affecting their health and safety.

What can be done?

• Develop a policy.
• This may be written into your Safety Policy Statement, or a stand-alone policy.
• It should be a clear and well-defined statement of your views on violence and aggression, and how you propose to tackle them.
• A successful policy needs the support and co-operation of all staff.
• There should be recognition of the problem, and procedures set out to deal with all aspects of violence and aggression.
• Training requirements should be addressed.
• Investigation of ALL incidents and identification of actions must be taken.
• The arrangements and policy should be monitored and reviewed.
  

  Good Practice

  • Find out if you have a problem, ask the staff.
  • Keep detailed records.
  • Try to think ahead, and decide what action to take.
  • Carry out a risk assessment.
  • Who might be harmed and how?
  • Evaluate the risk.
  • Think about training and supplying information to staff.
  • Look at the working environment and physical security of the staff.
  • Modify job and task design to eliminate or lessen the risk of violence.
  • Check what you have done by monitoring and reviewing.
    

    What about the victims?

    • Any violent incident involving the workforce needs a quick response to avoid unnecessary distress.
    • A plan should be evolved to consider what should be done.
    • Think about debriefing, but remember victims have different responses to violence and may not wish to talk immediately after the incident.
    • Specialist counselling may be required.
    • There may be a requirement to have time off work to recover from an incident as people recover over differing amounts of time.
    • In serious cases legal help may be appropriate.
    • Other employees and witnesses may need guidance or further training to help them react appropriately in the future.
      

    Why run a course dealing with violence and aggression?

     There were 6252 RIDDOR reported injuries caused by violence at work during the financial year 2004/05, These reports comprise 1 fatal injury, 973 major injuries and 5278 non-major injuries that resulted in absence from work for at least three days. This compares to 6396 RIDDOR reported injuries caused by violence in 2003/04. Estimates from the 2004/05 British Crime Survey (BCS) indicated that there were approximately 339,000 threats of violence and 317,000 physical assaults by members of the public on British workers during the 12 months prior to the interviews.

    The majority incidents of violence at work reported in the 2004/05 BCS did not result in serious injury; only 42% of those assaulted reported any resulting injury and 30% of these suffered only minor bruising or a black eye. Trends in violence at work are difficult to interpret, although there is some evidence of a fall in most recent years of data.

    The highest estimated rates of fatal, major and over 3-day injuries reported to HSE through RIDDOR were found in the minor occupational groupings of Rail transport operatives (723 per 100,000 workers), prison service officers (608 per 100,000 workers), Transport operatives n.e.c. (235 per 100,000 workers) and Police Officers (216 per 100,000 workers).

    There are no accurate figures for volunteers in faith-based projects, but it is strongly believed that they closely mirror the social services and police service. One thing is fact, there is an increase in the levells of violence and instances of aggression.  There are many causes for this, and these will be discussed on the course, however, the strategies and tactics to minimise harm to those involved will be the major aspect and focul point of the course.

    What is the AIM of the course?

    AIM:        To provide you with the knowledge & understanding to recognise & respond appropriately to violent and aggressive (V&A) situations to minimise the risk from V&A occurrences as far as is reasonably practicable

    What is the Course content?

    Introduction, Aims & Objectives Background information & Causes Personal Experiences The Law Reporting Information & Threat assessment Impact Factors – Recognition & Control.  Including syndicate exercise Communication Skills Threat Categories & Actions Post Incident Management

    What will I come away with?

    COURSE OBJECTIVES   By the end of the course you will be able to:- Define what constitutes V&A State importance of reporting V&A incidents Describe how to conduct Dynamic Risk Assessments & the type of factors that should be considered Describe warning signs State when & how police should be summoned Describe prevention & conflict management techniques State legal personal response to V&A (can & can’t do) Describe psychological signs & symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder  State what Occupational Health arrangements are required and should be in place

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