Violence in Schools
Link: WorkSafe BC Violence in Schools.
Like all other health and safety issues - ice, chemicals, electrical hazards, ergonomics -- addressing violence is a joint responsibiity of the employer AND the employee.
The WorkSafe BC definition of violence is: "The attempted or actual exercise by a person, other than a worker, of any physical force so as to cause injury to a worker and includes any threatening statement or behaviour which gives a worker reasonable cause to believe that he or she is at risk of injury."
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Injuries due to violence can be PHYSICAL or PSYCHOLOGICAL.
There is currently a move to update the regulations (laws) to reflect psychological injuries; a multi-stakeholder group is meeting to do this work and of course, it isn't happening fast enough! But it is happening.
Go inside WorkSafe BCs definition of psychological health and safety to learn more.
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Acts of violence can be committed without an intent to injure.
The definition of violence relies on the IMPACT on the worker, not the INTENT of the student.
If you perceived the action as violent, and it meets the criteria of the definition above, then it is violence.
The district's Violence in the Workplace safety program is found on their website, in their Safety Program, accessible through the Health and Safety tab. It is halfway down the Safety Program page.
The communication of the RISK OF VIOLENCE is the employer's duty.
The following of controls, protocols, and measures to REDUCE THE RISK is the employee's duty.
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An OH & S Toolkit was created by a joint working group including all educational stakeholders in BC. It is where our district accessed (and tailored) the Workplace Violence Report and Review form (WVIR). There are many more tools. See the below tables for a summary.
There is ONE main problem with the below resource - it mentions "baseline" behaviour as not qualifying as violence -- this does NOT align with the laws. WorkSafe BC does not mention baseline as a criteria.
Link: Occupational Health and Safety Toolkit
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