Preventing and managing aggression or violence – step 2: assess risks

Understanding risk assessments

To determine how aggression or violence poses a risk to health or safety, employers can do a risk assessment.

Risk assessments help employers work out:

• The seriousness of the risk, by considering the:
  • likelihood of harm occurring
  • consequences for affected employees and others. For example, the severity of harm.
• Which employees are at risk. For example, if risks are organisation-wide or apply to:
  • specific employees
  • groups of employees
  • specific work tasks
  • specific work sites.
• How multiple psychosocial hazards may combine and interact to increase the risk of harm. For example, an employee who works night shifts at an understaffed and busy fast-food restaurant is exposed to high job demands. They are also exposed to aggression or violence from customers who are intoxicated and frustrated by the long wait times.

Current knowledge and understanding about the risk and how to control it may already exist. However, employers should carry out a risk assessment when:

• it is not clear if the psychosocial hazard may result in harm
• it is not clear how hazards may interact to produce new, different or more significant harm
• the existing risk controls are not effective
• there are changes planned that may affect existing risk controls.

Risk assessments must involve consultation with employees and any health and safety representatives (HSRs). Consultation should:

• Use data and information from sources including:
  • information from employee discussions or interviews
  • workplace data and information from focus groups
  • industry knowledge and data
  • de-identified validated surveys.
• Cite the evidence used.

Doing a risk assessment

In a small workplace, a risk assessment may be as simple as regularly talking to affected employees and any HSRs. A more comprehensive process may be needed:

• for larger organisations with multiple worksites
• for workplaces in high-risk industries
• where exposure to additional psychosocial hazards may increase the risk of harm.

People doing the risk assessment should have:

• the skills and knowledge required
• information about the working environment and work processes
• knowledge and understanding of:
  • potential psychosocial hazards and risks to psychological and physical health
  • how to analyse evidence to consider risks and appropriate controls.

If those doing the risk assessment do not have the appropriate knowledge and understanding, employers may need to provide training or seek assistance from a subject matter expert to help:

• analyse the evidence
• understand the psychosocial hazards and risks.

Assessing risks is not a one-off action. It should be part of a continuous improvement process.

When assessing risks associated with exposure to aggression or violence, consider the following questions:

1. Who is exposed? For example:
   • Which worksites, work groups, teams, individuals or roles?
2. What is the source? For example:
   • Customers, clients or members of the public.
   • Specific tasks, such as announcing services disruptions or handling valuables.
   • Specific events.
3. What is the likelihood of exposure to aggression or violence?
   • How often are employees exposed to aggression or violence? For example, daily, at peak times or during high-demand periods.
   • How long are employees exposed for at any one time? For example, 2 weeks of overtime in a customer-facing role at the annual peak demand or an hour during each shift? Exposure for a short duration may still be harmful, such as seeing someone being assaulted.
   • Could the exposure happen as a single episode? For example, a client hitting an employee. Or could exposure accumulate over time? For example, repeated exposure to incidents of aggression or violence?
4. How severe are the consequences if employees are exposed? For example:
   • What degree of harm could employees experience? Could an employee be permanently physically or psychologically injured and unable to work?
5. Are employees also exposed to other psychosocial hazards in their working environment, such as poor support or high job demands?
   • Consider how multiple psychosocial hazards may interact and combine to increase the likelihood of harm.
6. Are some employees exposed to additional risk factors? These are factors that could put certain employees, or groups of employees, at greater risk of harm. Consider:
   • New employees.
   • Young employees.
   • Employees who may be exposed to multiple forms of discrimination that can combine or intersect to increase their risk of harm; for example, race or ethnicity, gender, sexuality, literacy.
7. What risk control measures are already in place to reduce the risk, and how effective are they?

WorkSafe’s prevention plan template can help guide the risk assessment process.

Factors that increase risk

When assessing risk, it is crucial to focus the most effort on those risk factors that could increase the likelihood and severity of harm to employees. These could include:

• Where employees are exposed to aggression or violence frequently or for extended or prolonged periods.
• Where employees experience one-off severe exposure to aggression or violence.
• Where the risk is less likely to eventuate, but if it did the consequences would be very serious or catastrophic.
• Where there are multiple psychosocial hazards interacting to increase the risks.
• Where there are certain employees, or groups of employees, who may be at greater risk of harm. This could include:
  • young employees
  • migrant workers
  • if known, employees who have a pre-existing disability, injury or illness
  • employees who have known previous exposure to aggression or violence
  • employees in insecure work; for example, casual and seasonal employees or those on fixed-term contracts
  • employees who may be exposed to multiple forms of discrimination that can combine (intersect) to increase their risk of harm; for example, race or ethnicity, gender, sexuality, literacy
  • employees with barriers to understanding safety information, such as language or literacy challenges
  • employees who are exposed to multiple or repeated psychosocial hazards
  • external factors that influence and contribute to the working environment.

See ‘Higher risk industries’ in What is aggression or violence? for more information.