Healthcare workers experience high rates of work-related violence, including physical abuse and harassment. Workplace violence legislation directs employers to adopt measures to reduce the risk of workplace violence in Ontario, yet recent inspections conducted by the Ministry of Labour demonstrated a number of inadequacies with respect to the implementation of violence prevention requirements under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). This study is designed to enhance the successful implementation of measures for the prevention of workplace violence in Ontario’s acute health care sector. A multiple case study design will be used to examine the conditions that support and limit the successful implementation of requirements under the OHSA for the prevention of workplace violence.
•To examine the measures organizations use to address workplace violence and perceptions of how these measures have played out in practice.
•To understand decisions made about implementation strategies and processes used to prevent violence.
•To identify contextual factors (internal and external to the workplace) that have supported or challenged implementation of violence prevention policies and practices.
•To gain input (e.g. from organizational informants; front-line workers, regulators, policy makers) about ongoing challenges associated with the prevention of workplace violence and strategies for improvement.
The findings from this field research will provide valuable information to the Workplace Violence Prevention in Health Care Leadership Table, identifying those areas of policy and practice which are inconsistently implemented in Ontario acute care settings, and identifying the implementation strategies that have been most effective in strengthening organizational violence prevention programs. Key findings from this research will provide practical guidance to Ontario healthcare institutions on those factors that facilitate successful implementation of effective workplace violence prevention programs.