Embedding a Culture of Safety Via a Workplace Violence Prevention Program

Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare believes strongly that excellence in patient care starts with employees who are and feel safe when they are at work providing care to patients. The safety of our people is paramount and our Workplace Violence Prevention Program is a foundational element of our efforts. The program is led by a multi-disciplinary and multi-union represented Committee and the program is multi-faceted and innovative in several distinct ways, including our electronic safety reporting system and safety planning practices, the full-time position of Safe Workplace Advocate, and our threshold case review policy. The program also includes complimentary policies for Human Rights, Workplace Harassment, Workplace Sexual Harassment, Domestic Violence and Code of Conduct – these policies are inter-related and together form a comprehensive program. In addition, mandatory 8 hour crisis intervention training for ALL employees (including regular 4 hour re-certification training), creation of a chart-flagging system to alert our people to individuals with risk factors for violence and provision of a mechanism (Personal Alarms) to summon help in the event of violence rounds out our program. Lastly, we have embarked on a communication plan to raise public awareness of our zero tolerance for violence policy and to encourage our staff to report incidents. Metrics to measure the impact of this work are reported monthly to our Workplace Excellence Board Committee and Joint Health and Safety Committee and to our employees via our annual safety report. Regular monitoring and review of incidents guides improvements and keeps our employees safe and protected at work.