To address the serious issue of violence in healthcare, OHSAH coordinates and facilitates a Provincial Violence Prevention Steering Committee (PVPSC), with the support of BC’s healthcare stakeholders (Ministry of Health, Joint Quality Worklife Committee, Health Employers Association of BC, Health Authorities: Provincial Health Services Authority, Fraser Health, Vancouver Coastal Health, Vancouver Island Health Authority, Northern Health, Interior Health, Affiliate Employers, and Healthcare Unions: BC Nurses' Union, UPN, Hospital Employees' Union, BC Government and Services Employees' Union, and Health Sciences Association of BC).

The PVPSC mandate includes the development of a comprehensive, cohesive, and effective provincial violence prevention strategy that has a direct impact upon healthcare workers and worksites in BC. Focus will be put on the development and promotion of best practices for violence prevention programs, policies, and training initiatives in acute care, residential care, home and community care, and public health sectors throughout BC.

Since May 2008, two violence prevention resources have been developed with feedback from stakeholders: a risk assessment guidebook entitled, “Safety Chat Guidebook: A Risk Assessment Component”, and a “Behaviour Documentation Toolkit.”

Click here for published PVPSC resources

A provincially-recognized, recommended healthcare-specific violence prevention training curriculum is being developed. The curriculum will consist of core training modules that have relevance to most care settings, as well as modules for several supplementary topics that address issues specific to certain work tasks, care settings or patient characteristics.

Click here to learn more about the Training Curriculum