Healthcare accounts for nearly as many serious violent injuries as all other industries combined, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety & Health Administration. From 2002 to 2013, the rate of violent workplace incidents for healthcare settings was an average of four times greater than private industry. In light of such statistics, OSHA has published a webpage containing information and strategies for healthcare workplace violence awareness and prevention.
The tools accessible through the webpage are intended to complement "OSHA's Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Healthcare and Social Service Workers", according to OSHA. Updated this year, the guidelines include details and use cases of the five components of an effective workplace violence prevention program, including management commitment and employee participation; worksite analysis; hazard prevention and control; safety and health training; and recordkeeping and program evaluation.
The initiative includes PDF downloads of an outline of the problem of workplace violence, a road map for leaders of examples of how organizations implement violence prevention programs and literature on how violence prevention goals align with other healthcare-related goals.