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
Additional webinars will be added throughout the year.
WPV Prevention Webinar Series – Assessment of Patients for Risk of Violence, Communication and Documentation
Date: July 17, 2025, 1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Speaker: Lynda Enos, RN, MS, COHN-S, CPE
Who should attend: Clinical leadership, safety, quality, risk, patient relations, facilities managers, and safety and security team members.
WPV Prevention Webinar Series – Topic TBA
Date: September 18, 2025, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Speaker: Lynda Enos, RN, MS, COHN-S, CPE
Who should attend: Clinical leadership, safety, quality, risk, patient relations, facilities managers, and safety and security team members.
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
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.
Workplace Violence Training – Situation Awareness and Personal Safety; Fundamentals of Behavioral Threat Assessment
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.
WPV Webinar Series: Introduction to Safe Patient Handling and Mobility
Date: October 30, 2025, 1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Offered in conjunction with our WPV Webinar Series – this 75-minute webinar will focus on safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM). Musculoskeletal injuries are the most common work-related injury among health care workers and the greatest risk factor for injury is patient handling. SPHM can reduce the risk of healthcare workers’ injury and benefit patients by facilitating safe and early mobility.
Speaker: Lynda Enos, RN, BSN, 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.
Her work in healthcare ergonomics spans over 20 years , involving the design, implementation, and management of safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM) and ergonomics programs for numerous hospital systems, clinics, assisted living facilities, and home health and hospice services in the United States. Assistance includes support of SPHM programs for several years per facility.
Ms. Enos was a contributor for the 2013 and 2021 editions of the American Nurses Association (ANA) Interdisciplinary Safe Patient Handling and Mobility Standards. Most recently, Ms. Enos co-authored a white paper “Safe Patient Handling and Mobility (SPHM): A Process to Protect Health Care Workers and Recipients” that was published by the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), the Association of Safe Patient Handling Professionals (ASPHP), and ANA.
In 2014, Ms. Enos received the Ergonomics Professional of the Year Award from the Puget Sound Human Factors and Ergonomics society and in 2017 she received the Advocacy Award for Safe Patient Handling, awarded by the Tampa VA Research and Education Foundation and the Association of Safe Patient Handling Professionals
Who should attend: Clinical leadership, safety, quality, risk, and patient relations.
WPV Prevention Webinar Series – Topic TBA
Date: November 20, 2025, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Speaker: Lynda Enos, RN, MS, COHN-S, CPE
Who should attend: Clinical leadership, safety, quality, risk, patient relations, facilities managers, and safety and security team members.