Policy Statement

Policy Number: WHS-09-2012

Issued: May 2012

ACT PUBLIC SERVICE

MANAGING OCCUPATIONAL VIOLENCE

1.PURPOSE

To guide the development of workplace procedures to protect the health and safety of workers who have the potential to experience occupational violence, because of the nature of their role.

The ACT Government seeks to provide workplaces where staff, clients and third parties work together in a safe environment for their mutual benefit.

2.APPLICATION

This policy applies to all ACT Public Sector (ACTPS) Directorates and any person considered to be a worker for the ACT Government under the Work Health & Safety Act 2011 (the WHSAct).[1]

The policy supports the values contained in the Public Sector Management Act 1994.

3.BACKGROUND

Occupational violence (also referred to as ‘workplace violence’) is defined as ‘any action, incident or behaviour that departs from reasonable conduct in which a person is assaulted, threatened, harmed, injured in the course of, or as a direct result of, his or her work.’[2]

The scope of this policy is considered to be any incident where a worker is threatened or assaulted in circumstances arising from their employment by someone other than a co-worker. Violence between co-workers is addressed in the ACT Government Respect, Equity and Diversity Framework (2010), The ACTPS Respect at Work Policy and Preventing Work Bullying Guidelines. All these documents canbe sourced from the following link:

Occupational violence may include personal intimidation, verbal abuse, physical assault, sexual harassment, threatening behaviour, abuse through technology (text, emails, and phone calls), making vexatious complaints, and making derogatory, slanderous or threatening statements to or about another person.

Occupational violence is not limited to incidents which occur within a workplace. It can also include violence that occurs away from work, but is a result of work. For example, a social worker who receives a threatening telephone call from a client at his or her home is a victim of workplace violence.

4.CONTEXT

The ACT Government is committed to fostering workplaces free from the fear and experience of violence. The Respect, Equity and Diversity (RED) Framework, in the context of the ACT Discrimination Act 1991,Public Sector Management Act 1994, Human Rights Act 2004, Work Health & Safety Act 2011, and Enterprise Agreements, provides guidance on how employers, executive and managers can maintain a workplace culture where employees are valued and respected. The Respect at Work Policy and Preventing Work Bullying Guidelines deal with issues between staff in the workplace.

This policy concerns occupational violence between a worker and a client or person other than a worker. Violence experienced occupationally may also be of sufficient severity or concern to constitute reporting the incident(s) to the ACT Police in addition to following internal procedures.

5.LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE

The Public Sector Management Act 1994 sets out the government and the community’s expectations of the professionalism and probity of ACTPS staff.

ACTPS workers are also bound by the Work Health & Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act), which establishes a framework of legal duties to ensure safety, health and wellbeing at work.

The ACT Government has a long-standing commitment to human rights. The Human Rights Act 2004 protects civil and political rights in the ACT and operates by a ‘dialogue model’ that requires human rights be taken into account by the government, legislature and judiciary.
The ACT Discrimination Act 1991 requires that an employer provide a workplace free from sexual harassment, unlawful vilification and victimisation.

The Crimes Act 1900 (part 2) details a number of offences against the person.

6.DIRECTION STATEMENT

Occupational violence towards or between staff, clients and third parties is totally unacceptable. Directorates must have a comprehensive occupational violence management plan (OVMP) in place which identifies the risks of violence and outlines the management strategies to be implemented to eliminate or mitigate those risks.[3] Where the risk of occupational violence cannot be eliminated, clearly articulated response strategies must be included in any plan.

6.1 Features of an Occupational Violence Management Plan (OVMP)

The following elements must be included in the OVMP and referenced in the directorate’s health and safety risk register:

  • Identification of risk factors;
  • Risk assessment;
  • Preventive and management strategies;
  • Procedures for reporting and investigating incidents;
  • Critical incident response plans;
  • Victim support services;
  • Skills evaluation and training programs; and
  • Legislative references.

In developing an OVMP the following principles need to be considered:

  • Occupational violence poses a threat to the health and safety of workers, clients and third parties;
  • Workers likely to be exposed to occupational violence must be provided with skills in minimising and managing risks to worker and client health and safety; and supported by robust policies, procedures and practices;
  • Workers exposed to occupational violence must be offered assistance and support;
  • All ACT Government staff have a responsibility under the WHS Act and the accompanying Regulationsto follow safe workplace practices and familiarise themselves with relevant policies and procedures;
  • The use of restrictive practices requiring the reasonable limitation of human rights may be necessary as part of the ACT Government’s duty of care to staff, clients and the public;[4]
  • Consideration must be given to the appropriateness and proportionality of the management responses to be implemented;
  • There is a requirement to eliminate risks to health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable. However, some work settings may have a statutory obligation to continue to provide services to clients who are behaving in a violent or aggressive manner. In these cases clearly defined and targeted response and management strategies must be devised with appropriate training and necessary resourcing to support staff to continue providing services while minimising the risks to their safety;
  • Work settings not under statutory obligations may respond to occupational violence by either continuing to provide services, withdrawing services or providing services in alternate ways;
  • The best practice prevention and management of workplace violence is multifaceted, organisation-wide and requires the commitment of all staff from executive to front line workers;
  • ‘Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design’[5] principles are useful in preventing or minimising the potential for aggressive behaviour. This is particularly important in work areas which have statutory obligations to provide services or work areas where money handling is a function of the work as well as any areas with public access; and
  • Occupational violence needs to be managed with equity and fairness and accountability for the decisions and actions taken.

6.2 Core Capabilities

A key measure to address occupational violence is the promotion of core capabilities of workers and managers (particularly for those workers who are likely to be exposed to physical and/or nonphysical violence). These core capabilities include the following:

  • Hazard identification;
  • Managing challenging behaviours;
  • Using non-confrontational communication approaches in order to de-escalate potentially volatile situations;
  • High level interpersonal skills;
  • Modelling appropriate behaviour; and
  • Focusing on the behaviour and not the person.

6.3 Customer Interaction Standards

A set of clear expectations of customer interactions will also assist workers, clients and third parties to understand their rights and responsibilities, including:

  • Complying with the duties of “other persons” in the WHS Act.
  • Using courteous behaviour and language;
  • Treating each other with care and respect;
  • Acting impartially with probity;
  • Using correct process for lodging complaints;
  • Providing clear information; and
  • Cooperating with enquiries and investigations.

6.4 Hazard and Risk Identification Programs

Directorates must identify areas of particular risk through their hazard and risk identification programs and by increasing workers’ awareness of violence as a hazard and increasing their ability to recognise incidents that should be reported.

6.5 Risk Assessment

Directorates must assess the nature and extent of occupational violence in the workplace, including fieldwork. Certain work processes, situations and interactions can place people at risk of experiencing occupational violence.

Risk assessments must consider the various situations where workers may encounter violence in any form in the course of their work such as:

  • Working with the public;
  • Handling money, valuables or prescription drugs;
  • Carrying out inspection or enforcement duties;
  • Providing service, care, advice or education (e.g. staff working in health care, social work and teaching);
  • Working with persons who may exhibit aggressive behaviours (e.g. staff working in health care, social services, or the criminal justice system.);
  • Working in premises where alcohol is served;
  • Working alone or in small numbers;
  • Working in community-based settings (e.g. undertaking home visits); and
  • Having a mobile workplace.

6.6 Risk Control

Directorates must take action to reduce the identified risk of violent incidents. Directorates must identify risks and controls, in consultation with staff, to eliminate or reduce risks to an acceptable level. This action may include, but is not limited to:

  • Developing core capabilities of workers and managers;
  • Setting clear expectations of standards of behaviour for workers, clients and third parties (through, for example, client service standards), including actions to be taken when standards are not kept;
  • Developing specific procedures for workers who are required to work in environments that cannot be controlled by the employer (eg. field workers and isolated workers);
  • Developing customer interaction procedures to ensure staff understand their right to remove themselves from clients when required;
  • Considering the work environment, by designing waiting areas to provide a welcoming, comfortable atmosphere; using security lighting; and removing obstacles which reduce the visibility of violent behaviour;
  • Imposing restrictions on contact, service delivery and other interactions; the temporary withdrawal of services; or more serious approaches such as taking out workplace protection orders or supporting criminal charges against an individual client or third party; and
  • Providing front-line workers with opportunities to be rotated or relieved from the front line of service to prevent stress from becoming a potential health and safety risk.

Additional information and guidance on risk management can be accessed through the Shared Services website via the following link:

6.7 Incident Response Plan

While control measures may reduce instances of occupational violence, it may not be possible to eliminate all circumstances where violence may occur. Clear guidance on how to respond to an incident is required, including:

  • Guidelines on what to do in threatening situations;
  • Reporting of incidents;
  • Reporting incidents of a criminal nature through the ACT police concurrently with internal procedures;
  • Procedures for briefing and debriefing staff in relation to critical incidents and intractable, stressful situations; and
  • Provision of personal protective equipment.

6.8 Monitoring and Review

Implementation of measures to reduce the potential for occupational violence needs to be monitored for effectiveness and should be scheduled for regular review.

7.RESPONSIBILITIES

a)Directors-General

  • Must promote to staff the ACTPS Values and Section 9 of thePublic Sector Management Act 1994 (commonly referred to as the Code of Conduct);
  • Must seek to prevent occupational violence by adopting whole of government policies; providing supervision, awareness raising and training for staff; and by undertaking ongoing risk management;
  • Must ensure guidelines and procedures accord with Directorate Enterprise Agreements and ACTGovernment guidelines;
  • Must ensure that executives, managers and staff are aware of what to do if staff, client or third party aggression or violence occurs; and
  • Must identify, assess, and control the risk factors that may allow occupational violence to occur.

b)Executives/Manager/Supervisor/Person in Control

  • Must uphold the Values and Code of Conduct[6] of the ACTPS and treat all staff, clients and third parties with respect;
  • Must communicate this policy and related procedures to staff to ensure that they are aware of their rights and responsibilities;
  • Must ensure staff are equipped to deal with aggressive behaviour;
  • Must provide ongoing training to staff;
  • Must seek to prevent occupational violence;
  • Must ensure all incidents are reported and treat incident reports of occupational violence seriously, responding promptly and in accordance with ACT Government guidelines (for example: the Respect at Work Policy; Preventing Workplace Bullying Guidelines; the Respect, Equity and Diversity Framework; and the ACT Public Sector Accident/incident Reporting and Investigation Policy);
  • Must ensure that staff exposed to occupational violence are provided with appropriate support; and
  • Must keep accurate records of incidents of occupational violence (for example, by reporting to WorkCover, or including reports in client files), ensuring that all such reporting observes principles set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (cwlth).

c)Workers

  • Must uphold the Values and Code of Conduct of the ACTPS and the policies and procedures contained in the Respect, Equity and Diversity Framework.
  • Must treat all staff, clients and third parties with respect;
  • Must work consistently within appropriate legislation, policy and procedural guidelines;
  • Must seek to prevent occupational violence by following all risk management strategies and procedures to prevent or minimise the likelihood of events occurring ;
  • Must familiarise themselves and act in accordance with ACT Government and agency guidelines and procedures relating to occupational violence; and
  • Must report all incidents of occupational violence (as per part 5.7 above).

d)Customers

It may be difficult to control or prescribe the actions of customers or third parties; however, expectations of appropriate behaviour should be articulated in the service standards to help staff identify when those standards have been breached and to provide guidance on actions to be taken in response to unacceptable behaviour.

Staff should be able to expect that clients will speak with staff politely and with respect and to observe client service standards. Directorates should make provision for service users to be able to provide feedback on how services can be improved.

8.GLOSSARY

“Customer”: means a person or group directly engaged with a service.

“Third party”: means family members, friends or associates of customers and may also include individuals who may have no direct connection to the service.

“Occupational violence” is any incident in which a worker is threatened or assaulted in circumstances arising from their employment by someone other than a co-worker. This may include personal intimidation, verbal abuse, and threatening behaviour that affects with psychological wellbeing of the worker, up to actual physical assault.

“Work Safety”: of people, means the health, safety and wellbeing of people in relation to work.

“Worker”[7]refers to:

  • An employee; or
  • A contractor or subcontractor; or
  • An employee of a contractor or subcontractor; or
  • An employee of a labour hire company who has been assigned to work in the person’s business or undertaking; or
  • An outworker; or
  • An apprentice or trainee; or
  • Students gaining work experience; or
  • Persons undertaking work experience placements; and
  • Volunteers; or
  • A person of a prescribed class for the purposes of the WHS Act.

“Workplace” means ‘a place where work is carried out for a business or undertaking and includes any place where a worker goes, or is likely to be, while at work (includes vehicle, vessel, aircraft or other mobile structure).[8]

“Risk” means exposure to the chance of injury or loss.

“Reasonably practicable” in relation to a duty to ensure health and safety, means that which could reasonably be done at the time to ensure health and safety while taking into account all relevant matters such as:

a)the likelihood of the hazard or risk occurring;

b)the degree of harm that might result from the hazard or risk;

c)what the person concerned knows or ought reasonably to have been expected to know about the hazard or risk and how to avoid or minimise them;

d)the availability and suitability of risk controls; and

e)after assessing the extent of the risk and the available ways to eliminate or minimise the risk – the cost associated with the available ways of eliminating or minimising the risks, including whether the cost is grossly disproportionate to the risk.

9.REFERENCES AND LINKS

ACT Government, Chief Minister’s Department (2010), Respect at Work Policy, People Management Policy Statement No. 2, ISSUED December 2010,

ACT Government, Community Services Directorate (2011), Occupational Violence and Aggressive Behaviour, Policy and Procedures.

ACT Government, Department of Disability, Housing and Community Policy (2007), Service Delivery Platform.

ACT Government, Preventing Work Bullying Guidelines, Guide to Prevention and Management of Work Bullying (2010), Commissioner for Public Administration. Documents can be downloaded from the following link:

ACT Public Sector (2011), WHS-01-2012 Accident/Incident Reporting and Investigation,

ACT Public Service (2010), Respect, Equity and Diversity Framework,

Australian Capital Territory (1994),
Public Sector Management Act 1994.

Australian Capital Territory (2011),
Work Health & Safety Act 2011.

Australian Capital Territory (2004),
Human Rights Act 2004.

Chappell, D. (2009),
Literature Review into best practice for preventing and managing customer aggression, Comcare.

Comcare (2009), Prevention and Management of Customer Aggression,

International Labor Organisation Sectoral Activities Program,
Code of Practice on Workplace Violence in services sectors and measures to combat this phenomenon, Geneva: ILO, 2003.

WorkSafe ACT (2010), Workplace Violence, HB0029,

10.REVIEW

This policy will be reviewed after three (3) years unless there is a requirement for earlier review.

11.APPROVAL AUTHORITY

This policy is approved by Andrew Kefford, Commissioner for Public Administration,
May 2012.

Document Name: WHS Policy – Managing Occupational Violence

Prepared by: Continuous Improvement & Workers’ Compensation Branch, CMCD

Feedback to:

Issue Date: May 2012

Review Date: May 2015

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