Healthcare Safety Toolkit Library

Violence in healthcare has escalated over the years and constitutes approximately 74% of workplace violence events reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is imperative that organizational leaders develop plans to prevent violence and train staff to identify and de-escalate violent behaviors as well as respond appropriately when an event occurs. This toolkit contains many resources to help facilitate the development of comprehensive violence prevention programs within your organization.

Maternal health encompasses the health of the pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period in women’s healthcare. Healthcare provider’s goals in maternal care are to reduce morbidity and mortality by providing safe, quality services to the mother and her baby. This objective can be accomplished by identifying risks, educating patients and following recommended guidelines of evidence-based practice. This toolkit supplies resources to benefit in the improvement of maternal health.

Developed by a Physical Therapy group in Delaware, this is a great example of a brochure developed to demonstrate proper lifting techniques. Something similar could be used to educate staff or patients.

Indiana University offers excellent resources on Safe Lifting Techniques that include information on general techniques and back safety.

The University of North Carolina has an excellent resource on Lifting and Material Handling. This resource describes the Stages of Lifting.

This is a tool that would be excellent for departments working on safe lifting performance improvement. The tool facilitates data collection through observation of others while lifting.

A risk assessment checklist for those working in the materials handling area. This checklist was originally created by Enos, HumanFit in 2012 and addresses load, tasks, working environment and individual capacity.

A document that spells out the universal best practices of safe lifting techniques across any industry. This is a handy tool that can be printed out and hung as a poster or could be used during an in-service to review safe lifting principles with staff.

Although it is healthcare's goal to maintain a safe environment at all times, violence remains a significant concern today. It is vital to implement processes to prevent workplace violence. Security practices can include an array of methods. The following documents provide best practices and alternative approaches that may be applied when handling violent encounters.

Reducing the risk of encountering an active shooter situation is important to any business, especially healthcare. These resources provide tools on how to plan what to do in the event of an active shooter/violent situation.

Acitve shooter events are increasing more and more across the U.S. and the experts have developed tools to help the lay person identify a potential active shooter as a risk reduction strategy.

Healthcare organizations should take the possiblity of an active shooter event occuring in their facility very seriously. These resources provide key tactics on managing violent and disruptive behavior as a risk reduction process.

Active shooter training is vital for all staff in a healthcare organization as they are the eyes and ears of the facility. These resources help ensure staff are trained and prepared to address violent/aggressive behavior/situations.