Workplace Violence Prevention
The West Virginia Hospital Association (WVHA) launched an ongoing collaborative to focus on workplace violence prevention in West Virginia hospitals in February 2025. According to data from the Occupational and Safety Health Administration (OSHA), healthcare workers are nearly four times more likely on average to experience violence than individuals in other industries. The workplace violence prevention collaborative is one component of the WVHA’s efforts to address strengthening the healthcare workforce. The association has been a longtime advocate of legislation to enhance hospital employee and volunteer safety and works with state and federal legislators to ensure a safe environment for both patients and healthcare professionals.
The WVHA’s Workplace Violence Prevention Collaborative’s goal is to reduce workplace violence incidents and increase safety awareness through educational events, webinars, and insights from subject matter experts.
Throughout the year, WVHA will host educational events where members will learn from subject matter experts in workplace violence prevention. Through a series of both in-person events and webinar training, teams will enhance their skills and receive support from content experts.
Member organizations are encouraged to participate in this collaborative to develop and implement sustainable and effective workplace safety programs.
Members may join at any time. Complete the registration form to enroll your facility in the WVHA Workplace Violence Prevention Collaborative.
If you have additional questions, please contact Hallie Morgan at (304) 353-9714 or hmorgan@wvha.org.
Upcoming Events
Kickoff Webinar – Preventing & Controlling Violence in Health Care: What Do We Know So Far?
Date: March 18, 2025 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Speaker: Lynda Enos, RN, MS, COHN-S, CPE, is a is a certified occupational health nurse and certified professional ergonomist with over 30 years of work and consulting experience in industrial and health care ergonomics. She is a principle consultant with HumanFit, LLC in Boring, Oregon.
Ms. Enos is a thought leader, published author and nationally recognized expert on preventing violence and musculoskeletal injuries in healthcare settings.
In 2017, she completed a 2-year project for the Hospital Association of Oregon that included assisting 5 hospitals in Oregon to develop comprehensive program plans to address WPV. Using lessons learned from this project, Ms. Enos developed a toolkit for the prevention of violence in healthcare. The “Oregon Workplace Safety Initiative Workplace Violence in Healthcare: A Toolkit for Prevention and Management”. She has since partnered with state hospital associations and insurers to conduct in-person and virtual WPV prevention workshops for numerous healthcare organizations in the US. Ms. Enos is a subject matter expert for several regulatory and research entities including, the American Nurses Association and the Joint Commission.
Who should attend: Clinical leadership, safety, quality, risk, patient relations, facilities managers, and safety and security team members.
Register here.
Workplace Violence Program Development Workshop: Developing, Implementing, and Evaluating Effective Workplace Violence Programs for Hospitals and Outpatient Clinics
Date: April 15-16, 2025, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Location: Stonewall Resort, Roanoke, WV
The focus of this interactive workshop is the development of effective and sustainable WPV programs. Attendees will be provided with practical information and tools that will allow them to develop or enhance an existing WPV program at their facility.
Attendees will be encouraged to network and share their ideas and experiences when implementing WPV and other safety programs in healthcare during the workshop. Overcoming common barriers such as changing organizational and staff culture when implementing and sustaining a WPV program will be highlighted.
Objectives:
- Describe the key components of a sustainable WPV program
- Identify the data needed to define the scope of WPV at your facility and to evaluate a WPV program
- Define how to develop a comprehensive WPV program plan that is supported by leadership
- Identify the resources needed to manage, implement, and sustain a WPV program
- Define how to develop a comprehensive WPV program plan that is supported by leadership and meets OSHA guidelines and The Joint Commission standards.
- Identify common barriers to implementing a WPV program and how to address them
- Start development of a WPV program plan and gap analysis of current WPV efforts at your facility
Faculty: Lynda Enos, RN, MS, COHN-S, CPE, is a is a certified occupational health nurse and certified professional ergonomist with over 30 years of work and consulting experience in industrial and health care ergonomics. She is a principle consultant with HumanFit, LLC in Boring, Oregon.
Ms. Enos is a thought leader, published author and nationally recognized expert on preventing violence and musculoskeletal injuries in healthcare settings.
In 2017, she completed a 2-year project for the Hospital Association of Oregon that included assisting 5 hospitals in Oregon to develop comprehensive program plans to address WPV. Using lessons learned from this project, Ms. Enos developed a toolkit for prevention violence in healthcare. The “Oregon Workplace Safety Initiative Workplace Violence in Healthcare: A Toolkit for Prevention and Management”. She has since partnered with state hospital associations and insurers to conduct in-person and virtual WPV prevention workshops for numerous healthcare organizations in the US. Ms. Enos is a subject matter expert for several regulatory and research entities including, the American Nurses Association and the Joint Commission.
Who should attend: Hospitals are encouraged to have small groups of staff who are or will be involved in development and management of WPV programs attend the workshop.
Register here.
Workplace Violence Training – Situation Awareness and Personal Safety; Fundamentals of Behavioral Threat Assessment
Date: September 30, 2025, Half day – times TBA
Location: Stonewall Resort, Roanoke, WV
Date: October 1, 2025, Half day – times TBA
Location: Glade Springs Resort, Daniels, WV
Speaker: Brian Uridge, MPA, CPP, CHPA, CTM
DPSS Senior Director Michigan Medicine Safety and Security
University of Michigan Division of Public Safety & Security – Michigan Medicine Security
Registration not yet open for these events.
Additional webinars will be added throughout the year.
Resources
Workplace Violence Prevention Toolkit
With expressed permission, WVHA has adopted the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems’ Workplace Violence Prevention Toolkit as our framework to guide improvement efforts.
Access the complete Toolkit here.
Additional references and resources – updated January 2024.
OSHA Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence