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Section I

General Information

Location Name:

ACME Hospital

Year founded:

1999

Address:

1428 Elm Street
Orlando
Florida
32810

General Contact Telephone Number:

(555) 555-1212

Security Contact Telephone Number:

(555) 555-1111

Senior Executive Responsible for the Facility:

Dr. Richard Acme

Security Department Head or Personnel Assigned Security Responsibility:

Mr. Johansen Doe

Contract Security Leadership:

N/A

Workplace Violence / Crime Prevention Committee Chairperson:

Mr. Johansen Doe

Workplace Violence / Crime Prevention Committee Vice Chair:

Ms. Gail Wind

Facility Type:

Hospital

Facility Size:

400 Beds

All Units:

Emergency, Psychiatric, OB/Gyn, Cardiovascular, Oncology, Pharmacy, and Labs

Full-Time Employees:

369

Part-Time Employees:

246

Field Workers / Home Health:

15 Home Health

Travel:

23

Temporary Employees:

31 Volunteers

Section 2

Workplace Violence Prevention Plan

Introduction:

It is the intent of this workplace violence prevention plan effectively address and plan for the measurable reduction of negative outcomes from workplace violence incidents.  Through the workplace violence prevention committee, facility physical security walk-through, employee historic workplace violence survey, and current policy review, the committee will identify effective workplace violence mitigations.

Statement by Senior Leadership:

Dr. Richard Acme, Board of Directors, and the entire C-Suite leadership fully support the workplace violence prevention program.  The workplace violence prevention planning committee will be given our full support in their goal of reducing the negative outcomes from workplace violence incidents.

Current Workplace Violence Program:

At this time ACME Hospital has a risk committee, active shooter training program, online workplace violence awareness video, and quarterly critical incident tracking.

Overview of Patient, Client and Setting-Related Risk Factors:

The workplace violence committee has completed a physical security walk-through of the ACME Hospital. Utilizing the “Workplace Violence Prevention Engineering” findings, provide a general
overview of the physical security or other risks that worker is currently facing. The engineering
or security by environmental design can be a cost-effective way to reduce the threat of
workplace violence

Any Organizational Risk Factors:

ACME Hospital is located in a high crime area.  The hospital is a critical access hospital for mental health patients, has a pharmacy, and one of the busiest Emergency Departments in America.  Other factors, such as religious affiliation, abortions performed, teaching hospital, and others.  If your organization has any type of negative perceived factors, it is important to identify these factors. There may be little to no mitigation measures available to help offset the risk.
However, a heightened awareness to the risks can act as a substantial mitigation

Workplace Violence Prevention Training:

Training should be provided in-person and by professional(s) that have specific education
and training in workplace violence prevention. It is recommended that you seek assistance
from your local Law Enforcement or Security Consultant(s) with workplace violence prevention
knowledge. See training tab for recommended training topics.
All training received by the employees should be compliant to the organizational policies for
self-defense techniques and de-escalation methods. Both courses should contain a hands-on component

Supervisor and Management Training Courses:

The supervisors and managers receive the same annual training as the other staff members.  The security leadership attend an annual refresher course for security leadership and crisis incident mitigation.

 

 

 

 

Training of Security Staff:

The security officers complete the State regulated 40-hour course and annual refresher.  The officers complete the online training for active shooter survival and workplace violence awareness.  Some officers have completed the IAHSS certification process.

Evaluation of Training:

Utilizing the factors identified in physical security walk-through and historic workplace violence events surveys, the most effective training needs have been identified.  The training will be evaluated quarterly by the workplace violence prevention committee to obtain the data and see if the training is reducing negative workplace violence outcomes. 

Documentation:

Throughout the Workplace Violence Prevention Plan, Training, Response, and Recovery processes,
clear and effective documentation is vital. As the saying goes, “If it’s not written down, it didn’t
happen”. Documenting every element of the process allows for tracking of staff training, occurrences
of workplace violence, mitigating against future events, and defending against litigation.

Records Analysis and Tracking:

Utilizing the workplace violence incident report form, Human Recourses reports, and Financial Department workers compensation records, the full impact of workplace violence events are tracked.  The monthly report is analyzed to identify injury to employee, cost of time lost, cost of medical care, type of incident, future mitigation methods, and if applicable cost of litigation.

Job Hazard Analysis:

In review of the historical workplace violence reports and current workplace violence event data, the committee have prioritized the works hazards as:

  • Kicked
  • Punch
  • Spit
  • Bodily Fluids
  • Trip
  • Verbal Threats

Employee Surveys:

An effective process of identifying potential hazards is through employee questionnaires and
surveys. The detailed baseline screening survey can help pinpoint tasks that place workers at
risk. At a minimum the survey should be conducted annually, however more frequent surveys
can help identify issues quicker. A survey should be completed after a workplace violence
event occurs. The general, non-event specific surveys should be reviewed monthly by the
Workplace Violence Prevention Committee at their meeting. An example of a simple survey:
• What daily activities, if any, expose you to the greatest risk of violence?
• What, if any, work activities make you feel unprepared to respond to a violent action?
• Can you recommend any changes or additions to the workplace violence prevention
training you received?
• Can you describe how a change in a patient’s routine may have affected the
precautions you take to address potential for workplace violence?
More questions can be added to better understand the baseline threat picture.

Hazard Prevention and Control:

Hazard Prevention and Control
After hazards are identified, how can they be prevented and controlled?
Continually review the farmstead, shop areas and work practices to control or prevent
workplace hazards.
Some ways to prevent and control hazards are:

  • Regularly and thoroughly maintain equipment
  • Ensure that hazard correction procedures are in place

Administrative and Work Practice Controls:

Investigation of Incidents:

Incident investigation is a process for reporting, tracking, and investigating incidents that includes (1) a formal process for investigating incidents, including staffing, performing, documenting, and tracking investigations of process safety incidents and (2) the trending of incident and incident investigation data to identify recurring incidents. This process also manages the resolution and documentation of recommendations generated by the investigations. Figure 19.1 shows an overview of the incident's element activities. At some facilities, the incidents element is used to assign blame to personnel involved in an incident. This approach results in ineffective recommendations being implemented. A more effective approach is to develop recommendations that address the systemic causes of the incidents. The incidents element is not a process to assign blame, but a process to develop effective recommendations to address the underlying, system-related causes of incidents.

Recordkeeping and Program Evaluation:

Policies and procedures for obtaining medical care, trauma informed care, counseling, workers’ compensation, or legal assistance:

This is where you would describe in detail the after care for the mental health of all staff involved or not involved in the incident, Understand, the mere threat of the incident can have lasting mental health issues, causing a feeling of an unsafe workplace.

Section 3

Workplace violence probability table

Do employees have contact with the public?

Yes

ACME Hospital is a critical access hospital and the employees have contact with the public all day.  There is a mental health unit located in the hospital and a birthing center.

Do they exchange money with the public?

Yes

ACME Hospital has a gift shop, public pharmacy, and cafe', all of which have cash opertations.

Do they work alone?

Yes

Throughout the hospital and our home health department, employees have the opportunity to be alone with clients or visitors.

Do they work late at night or during early morning hours?

Yes

There is staff on duty 24/7

Is the workplace often understaffed?

Yes

Due to the current COVID19 pandemic, staffing levels have been affected by sick employees and high turnover rates.

Is the workplace located in an area with a high crime rate?

Yes

ACME Hospital is located in the highest crime rate in Orlando Florida

Do employees enter areas with a high crime rate?

Yes

The parking area is located outside of the main hospital building and in accessible to the public

Do they have a mobile workplace (patrol vehicle, work van, etc.)?

Yes

The home health department utilizes their personal vehicles for traveling to client homes.  The security staff has mobile patrol vehicles to patrol the parking areas and perimeter of the hospital.

Do they deliver passengers, goods, or services?

No

Do employees perform jobs that might put them in conflict with others?

Yes

The staff interact with the public all day, every day.

Do they ever perform duties that could upset people (deny service, insurance benefits, etc.)?

Yes

At times service is denied to clients due to lack of insurance coverage or the hospital does not provide their required procedure.

Do they deal with people known or suspected of having a history of violence?

Yes

As ACME Hospital is located in a high crime area, the hospital sees many clients from the neighborhood.

Do any employees or supervisors have a history of assault, verbal abuse, harassment, or other threatening behavior?

Yes

It is a fairly frequent situation where clients with past workplace violence incidents are seen in the hospital.

Other risk factors – please describe:

No
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