Workplace Violence Prevention in Healthcare

Security Solutions
6 days ago
5 min read

5 Key Success Principles For A Proactive Approach

By Dylan Hayes, CHPA, CPP

Introduction: The Rising Threat of Workplace Violence in Healthcare

As a leader who worked in healthcare for a quarter century, workplace violence prevention is near and dear to my heart. Workplace violence is the single most preventable threat impacting the patient care atmosphere today. Healthcare environments are uniquely vulnerable to workplace violence and as a Healthcare Specialist today, I am passionate about making real meaningful impact to staff safety, patient care outcomes and the environment of care culture.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), incidents of serious workplace violence are four times more common in healthcare than in private industry on average. These acts range from verbal abuse and threats to physical assaults and, in rare cases, fatal attacks. The stress-laden environment, family and relationship issues, combined with high emotions, financial impacts, long wait times, mental health challenges, and easy public access, creates a volatile setting for staff, patients, and visitors.

The cost of these incidents goes beyond physical injury. Healthcare workers suffer emotional trauma, reduced morale, and burnout. Facilities see increased absenteeism, higher turnover rates, and potential legal liabilities. The need for proactive, preventive strategies has never been greater.

In this blog, we’ll explore five of the most proactive measures healthcare organizations can take to reduce the risk of workplace violence, including the vital role of modern security technology.

Risk Assessments: Understanding and Mitigating Environmental Vulnerabilities

Every effective workplace violence prevention program starts with a comprehensive risk assessment. This process identifies high-risk areas, common types of incidents, and existing security gaps.

Key elements of a healthcare-specific risk assessment include:

Evaluating physical layouts: Emergency departments, waiting rooms, and psychiatric units often see the highest rates of aggression. Poorly designed layouts can trap staff without escape routes or leave them too exposed.
Reviewing incident history: Analyzing past reports can help uncover patterns, such as violence correlating with specific times, departments, or patient types.
Engaging staff input: Frontline employees often provide critical insight into risks not visible in reports or data.

The outcome of this assessment should guide the organization’s investment in both physical and procedural safeguards, ensuring that resources are allocated where they are most needed.

Staff Training: Empowerment Through Preparedness

Training is the frontline defense against workplace violence. However, it must go beyond generic workplace safety presentations. Tailored, scenario-based training programs empower staff to recognize warning signs and de-escalate tense situations before they erupt into violence.

Effective training should cover:

De-escalation techniques: Teaching verbal and non-verbal communication strategies that can calm agitated individuals.
Early warning signs: Educating staff on behavioral indicators that suggest a patient or visitor may become violent.
Code and emergency response protocols: Ensuring staff know how to call for help and what to do in case of an active threat.
Post-incident reporting: Encouraging accurate and timely incident documentation to support continuous improvement.

Training should be mandatory, repeated regularly, and include practical drills to build confidence in real-time response.

Security Staffing: A Strategic Human Presence

While technology plays an essential role, well-trained security personnel remain a critical deterrent and first line of defense in preventing workplace violence.

Healthcare facilities should ensure:

Strategic staffing levels: High-risk areas must have adequate security coverage at all times, particularly during peak activity periods or late shifts.
Specialized training for security staff: Guards should be trained in both healthcare-specific policies and patient interaction sensitivity, particularly when dealing with mental health issues or vulnerable populations.
Visible presence: Uniformed security acts as a deterrent, providing reassurance to staff and patients while discouraging aggressive behavior.

Incorporating a security liaison officer into care teams, particularly in psychiatric and emergency departments, can also help foster a collaborative environment focused on safety.

Environmental Design: Creating Safer Spaces by Design

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a well-established approach that uses architecture and physical space planning to reduce the likelihood of violence. When properly applied in healthcare settings, CPTED enhances visibility, accessibility, and control without compromising patient dignity.

Examples include:

Controlled access: Implementing badge access and secured entry points to limit unauthorized movement, especially in back-of-house areas. Review the campus culture and determine the feasibility of implementing visitor screening, verification and badging.
Escape routes and safe rooms: Designing examination rooms with easy to use escape hardware, secured supplies, and installing panic buttons and security technology where appropriate.
Lighting and visibility: Ensuring all public and staff areas are well-lit, have clear lines of sight and monitored to deter suspicious behavior and increase visibility and response capability.
Furniture placement: Arranging rooms so staff aren’t trapped between the patient and the door.

These physical adjustments can reduce escalation opportunities and provide safe zones in case of a violent event.

Leveraging Proactive Security Technology

In today’s digital age, proactive technology solutions are transforming how healthcare organizations prevent and respond to workplace violence. Rather than simply reacting to incidents, modern tools enable prevention through early detection and rapid intervention.

Key technologies include:

Wearable panic buttons or Real-time location systems (RTLS): These allow staff to carry discreet panic buttons that alert security and pinpoint their location instantly for immediate support.
Smart Sensors: Intelligent sensors can easily be placed into any area to monitor for yelling, screams, and key words for help all while maintaining privacy.
Virtual or AI-powered surveillance: Advanced video analytics can detect abnormal behavior (e.g., fighting, running, a crowd gathering, break-in) both interior and exterior to alert security personnel before an incident escalates. Additionally, smart technology can assist with screening for weapons.
Access control systems: Integrating electronic locks with employee ID systems ensures that only authorized personnel can enter sensitive areas, preventing potential intrusions.
Visitor management software: Screening systems that check IDs, issue badges, and track visitor movement enhance situational awareness.
Mobile alert apps and notification systems: Giving staff the ability to report suspicious behavior or summon help discreetly from their smartphones and receive alerts for active incidents.
Integrating the eco-system: Connecting specific systems allows for proactive automations in situational awareness, security dispatch, lockdown capabilities, and staff notification. Work with Security Solutions NW to evaluate your goals and technology systems.

The integration of these tools into a centralized security operations center (SOC) or de-centralized security teams allows real-time monitoring and coordinated response, reducing incident response time dramatically.

Conclusion: Building a Culture of Safety

Preventing workplace violence in healthcare is not a one-time fix—it requires a comprehensive, ongoing commitment from leadership, staff, and security professionals alike. Risk assessments, targeted training, professional security staffing, environmental design, and modern technology must all work in tandem to create a resilient and secure workplace.

Perhaps most importantly, healthcare organizations must foster a culture of safety and reporting. Staff should feel empowered and supported to speak up, report concerns, and trust that their safety is a top organizational priority.

By adopting a proactive approach rooted in strategy, empathy, and innovation, healthcare leaders can significantly reduce the threat of violence—and ensure that caregivers can continue their critical work in an environment of trust, safety, and security. As the Healthcare Specialist for Security Solutions NW, my expertise is focused in aligning strategy and results with people, process and technology. Together we can change the trend in healthcare workplace violence. Connect with me and at not cost I will help assess your challenges and collaborate on various options.

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Dylan Hayes is a 25 year physical security technology expert and previously acted as the physical security program leader for Seattle Children’s Hospital and Research Institute. He managed teams, operations and technology that transformed the culture of safety and experience for staff, visitors and patients. Today, he is the Healthcare Specialist for Security Solutions NW, a 120 year-old Washington based security and fire life-safety integrator partner. He is passionate about delivering healthcare efficiencies and better outcomes for safety, security and workplace violence prevention.