A workplace violence is pervasive in the social service and health care setting. Washington State workers' compensation assault injury data for 1995-2000 ranks Social Services as the highest risk major industry (142.0 per 10,000 workers) followed by Health Services (74.6 per 10,000 workers). Within Social Services, Residential Care ranked second among specific industries with a rate of 301 per 10,000 workers. To address these data, we will conduct a comprehensive assessment of risk factors for violence and occurrences of violence in a sample of social service workplaces. Upon completion of the initial risk assessment we will develop and implement a comprehensive violence prevention program in these workplaces. The program will be developed in concert with federal OSHA Guidelines for violence prevention. Management Commitment and Employee Involvement are inherent in the design of the proposed study and include the formation and work of joint labor-management advisory groups. A Worksite Analysis will include focus groups, a pre-intervention survey, and walk-through evaluations. Hazard Prevention and Control will be accomplished by implementing recommendations from the walkthrough survey and focus groups. The advisory groups in consultation with project staff will review and make recommendations for necessary changes to policies and procedures. Training and Education will take place in year three of the study. Formative evaluation of the project will be ongoing. The impact of the intervention on staff assault experience will be evaluated one year following implementation of the program.
The specific aims of the proposed five-year project are as follows. 1) Describe environmental, organizational, and behavior/interpersonal risk factors for workplace violence present in the social service workplace. 2) Assess the assault experience of staff in these workplaces. 3) Examine the relationship between organizational factors and staff assaults in this sample of workplaces. 4) Design and implement a violence prevention intervention within these workplaces. 5) Conduct a process and outcome evaluation of the intervention in sample workplaces one year following program implementation.
| Lipscomb, Jane A; London, M; Chen, Y M et al. (2012) Safety climate and workplace violence prevention in state-run residential addiction treatment centers. Work 42:47-56 |
