Violence and aggression
Ensuring the safety of our workforce remained a key priority for EMHS throughout 2021-22.
While COVID screening stations established at entry points to our hospitals — enabling compliance with state-wide public health measures — quelled transient antisocial behaviour along our main thoroughfares, data captured over 2021-22 showed that overall incidents of violence and aggression were trending higher than in previous years.
code black/aggressive incidents
7447 in 2020-21
This placed a huge demand on security services and impacted other frontline staff across EMHS.
EMHS strategies to improve results
The EMHS Stop the Violence Committee and site sub-committees have multidisciplinary membership, and through monitoring and review of hazard and incident reports, aggression risk assessments, security department activity and annual staff surveys, develop action plans to help eliminate or minimise the risk to workers from harm as a result of aggression and violence in the workplace.
Actions to reduce the risk of harm include:
- increased CCTV coverage
- improvements to the security of car parks
- access and egress controls
- upgrades to duress systems
- implementation of a security officer intentional rounding program in high-risk areas
- ongoing engagement with stakeholders, both internal and external, such as WA Police, Perth Transport Authority and local councils.
In addition to the Employee Assistance Program and peer support officers, EMHS has in-house staff wellbeing programs that support both individuals and work areas to manage psychological hazards and respond to incidents in the workplace.
Future actions
Input from the staff survey and site Stop the Violence committees helped shape the Stop the Violence Action Plan for 2022, which was released towards the end of the current reporting period.
The plan builds on work undertaken over the previous two years and will provide tangible actions to help create a safer workplace for EMHS staff.
Patrols prove an all-round success
Hospital rounding by security personnel was rolled out across EMHS sites. The rounding provides a reassuring presence for staff and a deterrence for potential aggressors.
This intelligence-led initiative has a particular focus on wards accommodating patients with a known history of violence and aggression. The rounding also targets areas of the hospital that attract antisocial behaviour.
Staff have reacted extremely positively to the rounding and increased security presence, which aims to reduce and manage incidents of violence and aggression against staff.