NHSScotland 'Once for Scotland' Workforce Policies - Managing Health at Work - Public Consultation

5. Work-related Violence and Aggression Policy

5.1. Aim

5.1.1. This policy aims to:

• increase staff awareness of issues relating to violence and aggression
• provide a framework for managers to identify risks and provide appropriate preventive and protective measures
• reduce the number of incidents and injuries to staff resulting from violence and aggression.

5.2. Scope

5.2.1. This policy applies to all employees who meet the eligibility criteria. It also applies to bank, agency, and sessional workers.

5.2.2. This policy complies with current legislation and meets the aims of the Public Sector Equality Duty of the Equality Act 2010

5.3. Definitions

5.3.1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) define work related violence and aggression as: ‘Any incident in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances related to their work....’

5.3.2. RIDDOR – Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations. The purpose of RIDDOR is to inform the relevant enforcing authority that a work-related accident or incident has happened.

5.4. Roles and responsibilities

5.4.1. There is a range of standard expectations which underpin all policies. Read more about standard roles and responsibilities. In addition, the following specific responsibilities apply to this policy.

5.4.2. Employer

5.4.3. The employer must:

• Meet their duty of care to everyone covered by this policy
• Promote and actively support the health, safety and wellbeing of the workforce
• Make sure there are procedures and safe systems of work to eliminate or reduce the likelihood of violence and aggression
• Make sure managers at all levels are familiar with this policy
• Make sure the risk and issues pertaining to violence and aggression are recorded, and appropriate action is taken
• Make sure that employees know they should report incidents to the police and they understand the importance of timely reporting for any potential compensation reasons
• Make sure local monitoring measures inform wider preventative measures through an effective system of reporting, investigating and recording incidents.

5.4.4. Manager

5.4.5. The manager must:

• Make sure all employees are aware of the policy
• Promote a culture where employees feel safe to report incidents of violence and aggression
• Make sure employees record all incidents of violence and aggression
• Make sure that risk assessments are carried out and reviewed regularly
• Put procedures and safe systems of work into practice to eliminate or reduce the likelihood of violence and aggression
• Make sure that staff groups and individuals identified as being at risk are given appropriate information, instruction and training
• Make sure that appropriate support is given to employees involved in any incident of violence or aggression
• Make sure that employees know they should report incidents to the police and they understand the importance of timely reporting for any potential compensation reasons
• Monitor the reporting, investigating and recording of incidents to make sure preventative measures are effective
• Consider where it is appropriate for incidents to be timeously reported to the police and offer support to employees where required.

5.4.6. Employee

5.4.7. Employees must:

• Act in a manner that will not endanger themselves or others
• Complete all required training and education, as identified by their training needs analysis
• Follow procedures and safe systems of work to reduce the likelihood of violence and aggression
• Report any risks they identify, or any concerns they may have about potentially violent situations or their working environment
• Report all incidents involving verbal abuse, threats or physical assault

5.5. Organisational Arrangements

5.5.1. Specialist Risk Assessment and Advice

5.5.2. When an individual poses a risk of violence or aggression, a full risk assessment must be completed. This assessment must consider all specific prevention and management of aggression associated with the individual. This assessment should be regularly reviewed by the MDT and any other agencies involved and safe management strategies may need to be added or adapted.

5.5.3. Responses to incidents of violence or aggression can range from notification of unacceptable behaviour, up to the most serious outcome of withholding of treatment from violent patients.

5.5.4. Advice on patient specific issues, the environment, equipment and safe systems of work should be obtained from the relevant department where required.

5.6. Managing incidents

5.6.1. Local procedures must be in place for managing violent and aggressive incidents. This should include details of emergency protocols. All employees must be familiar with these procedures, including getting help if an incident occurs.

5.7. Employee support

5.7.1. All employees who are victims of violence or aggression must have access to appropriate support. Where appropriate, a debriefing should be carried out with the employees involved as part of the incident management process. This should be as soon as possible after the incident.

5.7.2. Managers can refer employees for counselling support or employees can self-refer.

5.8. Reporting and recording

5.8.1. Employees should report all incidents of violence or aggression (including near misses) to their manager at the earliest opportunity. Managers should record and investigate the matter in line with local protocols and procedures.

5.8.2. If any staff member is absent for more than seven days in a row as a result of an act of violence or aggression, the Health and Safety Executive must be notified within ten days of the incident. Similar reporting may also apply to modified duties as a result of injuries sustained. This meets RIDDOR requirements.

5.8.3. To monitor the effectiveness of this policy and associated local protocols, local statistics and incident reports should be reviewed regularly.

5.9. Involving the police and prosecution

5.9.1. Where an incident occurs, the employee affected is encouraged to report it to the police. NHSScotland is actively committed to protecting employees from violence and aggression and will support proceedings against those who carry out assault.

5.9.2. The Procurator Fiscal may decide to take legal action and managers must make sure that employees have access to ongoing support throughout this process. Other support may also be available to employees through Trade Unions or Professional Organisations.

5.10. Useful Links

• Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005

5.11. Related Policies

• Lone working Policy

5.12. Supporting documentation

It is proposed that the supporting documents listed below will be developed to support the policy. Supporting documents are not part of the consultation. These will be drafted following the consultation when responses have been analysed and the policy is developed in a final draft.

• Employee guide
  Descriptor: guide to help employees use and understand the Work-related Violence and Aggression Policy.

• Manager guide
  Descriptor: guide to help managers use and understand the Work-related Violence and Aggression Policy.

• Work-related Violence and Aggression policy Risk Assessment
  Descriptor: to identify risks and provide appropriate preventive and protective measures.

5.13. Consultation questions

We are inviting responses to this consultation using the Scottish Government’s consultation hub. The following questions are set.

In your response, all questions have the option to answer yes or no. You are invited to provide further comment in a free text box. If you wish to make specific reference to a section of the policy, please quote the relevant numbered line in this consultation document.

1. Do you feel there are any gaps in the policy?

2. Do you feel there are any gaps in the proposed list of supporting documents?

3. Do you have any other comments to make on the policy?

4. Do you have any views on the potential impacts of this policy on equalities groups?

It is against the law to discriminate against someone because of: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. These are protected characteristics under the Equality Act, 2010.