Occupational Violence

Occupational Violence refers to all forms of physical attacks and threatening conduct. Discrimination, sexual and other forms of harassment, bullying, violence and threatening behaviour are deemed to be unacceptable in any DEECD workplace.

Where/when would these issues be relevant?

All employees, students, parents, contractors and visitors in schools or other DEECD workplaces are expected to act in ways which are not aggressive and threatening to others. Occupational Violence can occur in a number of settings including at the workplace; off site situations such as school camps, excursions and social functions; at an employee’s home, in a public place or at a community event as a direct result of a person’s role as a DEECD employee or, increasingly so, within cyberspace through threatening website postings, emails and SMS.

What do I need to do?

Consult with Health and Safety Representatives (HSR) and employees to determine when and where these issues occur
Identify any particular individuals at risk
Correctly identify what is creating the hazard for those individuals
Take action to control the hazards
Make sure workplace policies and procedures are in place to manage the risk
Provide appropriate information, instruction and training for employees so they have the awareness, knowledge and skills to identify risk factors associated with occupational violence, the signs of impending violence and the appropriate prevention measures to control these kinds of risks
If an incident is reported act in accordance with the DEECD’s policies and procedures as set out in the Emergency and Security Management Guidelines
Serious workplace incidents will require that you notify Worksafe Victoria also. Notifiable incidents are incidents that result in death or a serious injury. A serious injury involves immediate medical treatment or medical treatment within 48 hours of exposure to a substance. In summary, incidents involving injuries sustained from plant, broken bones, injuries requiring stitches, the administering of a drug, the loss of bodily functions or the exposing of the general public or students to the risk of a serious hazard are some of the issues considered to be reportable incidents
Enter all incident data into EduSafe for employees or CASES21 for students as soon as possible after the incident.