4 Rs of Workplace Violence Prevention
At Texas Health Resources, we live and breathe The THR PromiseSM: Individuals Caring for Individuals, Together®. With this being the environment that we work in, it is sometimes easy to forget that we can all be potential victims of workplace violence.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) defines workplace violence as violent acts, including physical assaults and threats of assaults, directed toward persons at work or on duty. People tend to think, “that will never happen to me,” but the risk of workplace violence occurring is more than we all probably imagine.
Did you know that homicides are the second leading cause of death in the workplace? Of all workplace violence incidents in the United States that result in lost workdays, 45 percent occur in the healthcare industry. Texas Health saw an 84% increase from 2014 to 2015 in the number of employees that reported being physically assaulted by patients. What steps can we take to protect each other and the communities we serve? The 4 Rs of Workplace Violence can help us all remember our responsibilities.
Download this handout to use as a resource on your unit.