Employees Protest Lack of Workplace Violence Training, Prevention
Staff at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle recently protested, passing out leaflets and accusing the administration of failing to protect workers from violent patients.
"These people are physically being assaulted," said Art Wake, president of the union that represents the workers. He added that the medical center's safety efforts aren't successful in protecting staff members. "If I had the knowledge that twice a year I was going to get the crap kicked out of me -- well, that's a rough way to work."
The employees claim they're not provided the proper tools and training to do their jobs. But a facility spokesman said they have a "very robust" training program that includes violence de-escalation techniques.
Need more information about a workplace violence prevention plan including de-escalation techniques? Check out Tab 3 of Quality America's OSHA Safety Program Manual or Dental OSHA Safety Program Manual.
We have free workplace violence prevention resources available as well. Download our 20-minute Workplace Violence Podcast and accompanying Risk Assessment for Workplace Violence here.
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer. August 31, 2007. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/329947_harborview01.html
Posted by Quality America on September 12, 2007 | Comments (0)
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