A key challenge facing many industries (particularly retail and aged care) is the rise of occupational violence and aggression in the workplace.
Supporting our customers to create safer workplaces means we are always looking for innovative and effective approaches to workplace safety and injury management. Recognising how important the issue of OVA is for our customers and their workers, through our Mutual Benefits Program we have been:
- conducting research into OVA
- developing training to help workers and managers develop skills and knowledge to assist them pre, during and after an incident
- developing resources to assist workers and business owners manage OVA in the workplace.
Below you will find updates on our current projects, links to additional information and a downloadable poster to support our retail customers who are experiencing additional pressure at present.
If you would like to be involved in our research or have a query, please email a member of our Mutual Benefits team.
OVA online training - coming May 2022
EML has engaged Communicorp Group, a specialist psychological consultancy and The Learning Hook, an online learning product developer to design and develop five OVA self-paced eLearning modules.
The modules will be designed to target key industries that are currently facing a high volume of OVA claims including aged care, health care, and retail.
We are also developing a more generic module that can be utilised by other industries, as well as one specifically for our EML case managers.
The training will cover pre, during and post incident care and will make use of relevant and relatable examples from each industry. EML will also be engaging customers from within these industries to assist with the content creation to ensure that the information provided is engaging, effective and delivers the most possible value to our customers and their workers.
The training is expected to be available exclusively to EML customers through our EMlearning platform in May 2022.
Understanding OVA - research update
Last year EML partnered with Phoenix Australia (the national centre of excellence in posttraumatic mental health), to conduct research into OVA in the aged care industry.
The initial findings highlighted that many healthcare workers have experienced some degree of violence and aggression in their careers; either from those they are caring for and/or from visiting family members or friends.
Find out more about the research finding in the OVA resources article.
Supporting our retail customers
With the increase in foot traffic over the holiday period and the added pressure of COVID regulations, workers in the retail sector have been increasingly exposed to OVA in the workplace.
Aggressive behaviour can have an impact on an employee's psychological health and safety. Preparing for aggressive customer behaviour is one of the most important steps in keeping you and your people safe at work.
Below you will find a poster you can print for your workplace which contains useful information for both business owners and staff to help prepare for unacceptable customer behaviour.
Helpful links
Here are some useful sources of information, tools and resources to assist your organisation and workforce address OVA:
- NSW Government - Keeping workers safe
- SafeWork Australia - guides for businesses and workers, advice for worker's, preventing violence and aggression
- NSW SafeWork - article regarding OVA, preventing and responding to OVA brochure
- SafeWork SA - article regarding OVA in retail
- WorkSafe Vic - It's Never OK posters, healthcare OVA information sheets, employers guide to preventing and responding to OVA
For mental health support and guidance visit:
We also provide the following free online training through EMlearning for customers and their workers:
- How to help a teammate in distress
- Bullying and harassment (employees, managers and supervisors)