Framework Guidelines for Addressing Workplace Violence in the Health Sector
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Dear Colleagues,
in the course of the last months you have been supportive and helpful
to our research work. I am therefore very pleased to send to you on
behalf of the ILO/ICN/WHO/PSI Joint Programme Steering Committee the
newly released Framework Guidelines for Addressing Workplace Violence
in the Health Sector. Please find them attached as well as an intro-
ducing letter.
[Form the Moderator: we have placed the guidelines on the AFRO-NETS
server for downloading (Adobe PDF format, 35 pp. 775 kb):
http://www.afronets.org/
click 'AFRO-NETS Related Documents'
or download directly at:
http://www.afronets.org/files/Guidelines%20on%20Workplace%20Violence.pdf ]
The Joint Programme currently is developing a website on which the
various papers and study reports will be made available. The Guide-
lines are also available in Spanish and Russian, with a French ver-
sion coming up soon.
The Synthesis Report of the country case studies is already available
on the websites of ICN <http://www.icn.ch> and ILO:
www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/papers/health/violence-ccs.pdf
We hope that the information is of use for your work.
With best regards,
sincerely,
Christiane Wiskow
Research Consultant for the ILO/ICN/WHO/PSI Joint Programme
On Workplace Violence in the Health Sector
La Guinch�re - Publier
F-74500 Evian, France
Tel: +33-450-734-640
mailto:cwiskow@cario.fr
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International Labour Office (ILO)
International Council of Nurses (ICN)
World Health Organisation (WHO)
Public Services International (PSI)
Joint Programme on Workplace Violence in the Health Sector
NEW RELEASE:
FRAMEWORK GUIDELINES FOR ADDRESSING WORKPLACE VIOLENCE IN THE HEALTH
SECTOR
Dear Colleagues,
The Steering Committee of the ILO/ICN/WHO/PSI Joint Programme is
pleased to announce the recent release of Framework Guidelines for
addressing Workplace Violence in the Health Sector.
Violence at work is becoming an alarming phenomenon worldwide. Af-
fecting the dignity of millions of people, violence is a major source
of inequality, discrimination, stigmatisation and conflict in the
workplace. Increasingly it is becoming a central human rights issue.
The enormous cost of workplace violence for the individual, the work-
place and the community at large is becoming more and more apparent.
Recent information shows that the current knowledge is only the tip
of the iceberg.
Violence includes both physical and non-physical violence. It finds
its expression in physical assault, homicide, verbal abuse, bully-
ing/mobbing, sexual/racial harassment and making threats.
While workplace violence affects practically all sectors and all
categories of workers, the health sector is at major risk: more than
half of all workers in this sector may have experienced violent inci-
dents at some point. Ambulance and pre-hospital emergency staff are
reported to be at greatest risk, nurses are three times more likely,
on average, to experience violence in the workplace than other occu-
pational groups. Since the large majority of the health workforce is
female, the gender dimension of the problem is very evident.
How to address this problem?
ILO, ICN, WHO and PSI have jointly developed a set of guidelines as a
basic reference tool for the development of policies against violence
at work, the "Framework Guidelines for Addressing Workplace Violence
in the Health Sector". They are intended to support all those respon-
sible for safety in the workplace, be it governments, employers,
workers, trade unions, professional bodies or members of the public.
The tool will guide you through the complexity of issues to be con-
sidered when developing anti-violence strategies for all work-
settings in the health sector.
The Guidelines are meant to stimulate and guide initiatives at inter-
national, national and local levels. These can be adapted to meet lo-
cal and national needs and constraints.
Please find enclosed the full document as well as a summary leaflet
in English for your information.
The full document is also available in Spanish and Russian and soon
in French, while the leaflet also exists in French and Spanish. All
documents will shortly be made available on the websites of the four
organisations:
http://www.ilo.org
http://www.icn.ch
http://www.who.int
http://www.world-psi.org
You are invited to make use of this guidance tool for your work. We
would appreciate receiving your feedback and comments in order to op-
timise the use of this instrument.
Sincerely,
Steering Committee of the ILO/ICN/WHO/PSI Joint Programme
Contacts:
ILO: Mr. Bill Ratteree, Services Team, Sectoral Activities Department
mailto:ratteree@ilo.org
ICN: Dr Mireille Kingma, Nursing and Health Policy
mailto:kingma@icn.ch
WHO: Dr Naeema Al-Gasseer, Health Service Provision
mailto:algasseern@who.int
PSI: Mr Alan Leather, Deputy General Secretary
mailto:alan.leather@world-psi.org
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