Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Health Care & Social Service Workers

These guidelines are not a new standard or regulation. They are advisory in nature, informational in content and intended to help employers establish effective workplace violence prevention programs adapted to their specific worksites. The guidelines do not address issues related to patient care. They are performance oriented, and how employers implement them will vary based on the site’s hazard analysis.

Violence inflicted on employees may come from many sources— external parties such as robbers or muggers and internal parties such as coworkers and patients. These guidelines address only the violence inflicted by patients or clients against staff.