Workplace Safety

Unfortunately, violence in the workplace has become more common in health care and incidences are slowly rising. Has someone at your dermatology practice ever experienced any type of violence at work? Is your practice equipped or prepared to handle violence, if it were to occur? Dermatologists are not always trained at responding to violence in the workplace, but it is imperative that physicians and office staff learn what to do to keep the workplace safe.

Workplace violence can include harassment, verbal abuse, physical assaults, stalking, and more. It can come from anyone, including a patient, employee, or past employee. It can occur at or outside the workplace.

The Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) requires that all employers provide a safe and healthful workplace for all workers.

Dermatology practices should address the following to help prevent, recognize, and properly respond to workplace violence.

• Evaluate

• Report

• Train

• Review

The following tips can help you prevent, recognize, and properly respond to workplace violence.

Evaluate

Workplace violence is underreported, and solutions may seem difficult or unclear. Go through the OSHA checklist* to determine areas of risk and their severity. The more “true” answers you give, the greater the risk of workplace violence. Add questions to the list if your practice faces potential threats that the existing checklist does not address.

Explore ways to reduce or eliminate potential violence. For example, your practice could adopt ID badges and/or electronic key access to the practice, making it more difficult for unauthorized individuals to enter.

Report

Set a policy requiring office staff to report and log all workplace violence incidents. Keep a log on file of such incidents. Give staff an option to report workplace violence to management anonymously. Encourage staff to report any violent incidents to the local police.

No matter how small the issue, all staff should understand their right to file complaints and have the option to consider doing so on websites like the OSHA website*. Dermatologists or practice managers can also report violent incidents for their staff.

Train

Train existing employees on workplace violence, including learning how to recognize it, how to effectively respond, and what their responsibilities are. Make this training part of the onboarding process for new staff.

The Academy offers an OSHA Training for Medical Office Module that is ideal for annual recertification of current staff or for new hires and includes information on workplace violence. OSHA* also has various resources to offer on that vary from consultation, protection programs, training, and education.

Consider bringing in an expert on workplace violence to train all staff at once on prevention and safety. Training providers include*: Avade, HR Learning Center, Wolf Management Consultants, LLC, Carol Cambridge & The Stay Safe Project.

Set a zero-tolerance policy on workplace violence in your office. Ensure all employees understand that any staff member who engages in workplace violence is subject to disciplinary action, including termination.

Encourage staff to take individual safety training classes to learn techniques on how to recognize and handle violent situations, learn how to resolve conflict, and learn how to reduce stress.

Review

Commit to regular review of the OSHA workplace violence checklist to ensure it remains up to date. Inspect the facility to identify new potential threats and vulnerabilities. Share any changes in policies and procedures with all staff, and retrain if necessary.

Review violent incidents and monitor trends in common violent situations with staff members. Identify steps to prevent or reduce future potential incidents and encourage employees to share their stories to avoid similar situations in the future.

If your practice suffers a violent incident, offer counseling and other mental health services to help office staff recover. Potential resources include employee assistance programs, SAMHSA Disaster Distress Hotline*, local family caregiver support programs, complementary health approaches, and more.

* The Academy is able to share these options on an informational basis only. It does not represent an endorsement by the Academy. Please compare, evaluate, and consider which ones best meet your needs.

Additional Academy Resources