1. Occupational Violence A health, safety and wellbeing response
Kevina O’Neill, Assistant Secretary – Services Zeb Sugden, Organiser South Queensland

2. We will:
develop deeper knowledge of what constitutes occupational violence
develop a shared understanding of what occupational violence from students and parents can look like in the workplace
develop an understanding of health, safety and wellbeing responses to occupational violence

3. Our Vision for Health, Safety and Wellbeing
. . . the department’s vision for our staff and students is that they become ‘healthy people achieving quality educational, training and employment outcomes in safe and supportive working and learning environments.’
This will be achieved through the provision of a flexible and legislatively compliant Health, Safety and Wellbeing Management System, consistently embedded across the department as well as a culture of zero tolerance for uncontrolled foreseeable risks.
DET’s Health, Safety and Wellbeing Management System p 4.
Task
What do you think “a culture of zero tolerance for uncontrolled foreseeable risks” means?

4. A person who conducts a business or undertaking (PCBU) has a primary duty of care to ensure the health and safety of their workers and others in the workplace. They must provide and maintain, so far as is reasonably practicable, a safe and health working environment and they must consult with their workers about health and safety issues.
Consultation with workers about work-related violence should occur when:
identifying risks in the workplace
making decisions about ways to prevent and manage work-related violence risks
making decisions about information and training on work-related violence
witnessing signs that work-related violence is affecting the health and safety of workers
proposing changes that may affect the health and safety of workers.
Workplace Health and Safety Queensland. April “Preventing and responding to work-related violence” p4.

5. As a group, discuss and then write up a definition of occupational violence?
Please list behaviours in the workplace, directed at teachers, school leaders and other staff, that your group believes are examples of occupational violence.
As groups present, add any additional examples to your list.

6. What is occupational violence?
Definition
“Work-related violence is any incident where a person is abused, threatened or assaulted at work. This definition covers a broad range of actions and behaviours that can create a risk to the health and safety of workers. Some industries describe behaviours that fit this definition as ‘acting out’, ‘challenging behaviours’ or ‘behaviours of concern’.
Examples of work-related violence include:
biting, spitting, scratching, hitting and kicking
throwing objects
pushing, shoving, tripping and grabbing; feigning an attack
verbal threats
sexual assault
attacking with any type of weapon
Workplace Health and Safety Queensland. April “Preventing and responding to work-related violence”.
Task: Thinking about our work contexts, suggest some other examples?

7. Service-related violence
“Service-related violence arises when providing services to clients, (students), patients or prisoners. It generally occurs in the hospitality, retail, health, aged care, disability, youth services, education and enforcement industries.”
At times, “service-related violence is unintentional but it does cause harm and is therefore a risk to a worker’s health and safety” and in schools, to the safety of students, volunteers etc.
Task: Take a moment to come up with two examples of unintentional service-related violence in a school setting.
Workplace Health and Safety Queensland. April “Preventing and responding to work-related violence” p3.

8. Let’s look back at zero tolerance for uncontrolled foreseeable risks
Crucial risk management questions give insight into what the above statement may mean.
Identifying hazards and assessing risks to determine:
What could harm workers and others?
How likely it is that harm could occur, for example ‘not very likely’, ‘very likely’’?
What information do you have that could indicate whether the harm is ‘not very likely’ or ‘very likely’?
How serious the harm could be, for example minor, serious or fatal?
Foreseeable risk can be defined as the likelihood of injury or damage that a reasonable person should be able to anticipate in a given set of circumstances.
“The model WHS Act and Regulations require those who have a duty to ... Risk control means taking action to eliminate health and safety risks so far as is ... and cover all reasonably foreseeable hazards and associated risks.
“ (March 28, 2017)

9. Case Study
Identify an example of behaviour in a school context that would meet the definition of occupational violence.
Working in your groups refer to this worksheet on zero tolerance for uncontrolled foreseeable risks and the Hierarchy of Controls poster to analyse:
what are the foreseeable risks in relation to the behaviour of the student?
how likely is it that there will be harm?
On the basis of the information established, how likely is it that that harm could be/would be serious?
When assessing the hierarchy of controls that need to be put in place in managing the risk in relation to the behaviours of the student/parent, what contextual information did your group consider in coming up with a proposal?
What influenced your decision making in relation to your groups recommended course of action?

10. Questions for reflection
At times a disciplinary suspension may not necessarily be appropriate. Explore this statement and possible scenarios where an absence may be necessary but it would not be a disciplinary suspension. Is it appropriate to still enter behaviour notes in OneSchool behaviour? Apart from the serious physical assaults entered in the WHS Incident Report module, what other incidents could/should have been reported where a student is engaging in regular threatening behaviour including throwing objects or feigning attacks? In a scenario where consistent precursor behaviour was being captured as anecdotal notes and occasionally captured in OneSchool behaviour reporting, how might a serious assault/injury have been avoided if DET’s HSW processes were being adhered to?

11. Let’s look at some other possible scenarios

12. Near misses, occupational violence and HSW reporting
Health, Safety and Wellbeing frameworks speak about reporting incidents and near misses. Group task In terms of occupational violence what might a near miss look like? What are some real workplace examples of a near misses? Near miss is an important health and safety concept generally, in relation to reporting. In terms of occupational violence, reflect upon the value of reporting near misses in the HSW OnePortal incident reporting module.

13. Some final reflections
Being subject to occupational violence is not part of your job and should not be seen as just a part of your job. Where there is a pattern of behaviour the risk is foreseeable and controls (resourcing, protocols etc.) should have been put in place. The very first responsibility of an employer is to ensure the safety of employees and others. Where controls or resources are required to manage occupational violence, financial and human resources may be required. It is not acceptable to allow a situation to continue because the appropriate (reasonable) ‘controls’ have not been put in place. Putting up with it is not an appropriate approach.