Member safety toolkit.

Hospital safety checklist

Review these 16 points with your team. Answers stay in this tab; download your action plan before leaving. This is a self-review, not a safety certificate or service activation.

Plan a supervised tabletop drill

Select a scenario and discuss how your local plan would work. A tabletop exercise uses discussion only. Notify participants, agree a facilitator and avoid real alarm or SOS activation.

1. Name the facilitator, shift lead, backup and observer.
2. Describe the scenario without identifying real patients.
3. Discuss safe withdrawal, the alert route and the next escalation.
4. Check who protects access, supports clinical care and records events.
5. Assign improvement actions and a review date.

Local training and planning reference: Victoria Department of Health · response procedures ↗. Local response names and roles must be agreed by your hospital.

First steps after a threat or assault

Protect people and get appropriate help before collecting information.

1. Move away from immediate danger when you can do so safely. Alert the hospital response team and call 112 for urgent police assistance.
2. Arrange medical attention for anyone injured. Ask a colleague to help with practical tasks and continuity of patient care.
3. Once safe, make a factual account and ask the authorised custodian to preserve relevant records. Avoid confrontation or circulating identifiable footage.

Reference: BMA · preventing and reducing violence against staff ↗

Recognise tension and withdraw safely

Use this briefing alongside supervised training and your hospital’s procedures.

1. Notice escalating voices, threats, crowding or blocked movement. Call for trained help early and keep a route to leave.
2. Where safe, let one calm staff member speak, listen and explain the next available step. Avoid arguing, threats or surrounding the person.
3. Leave an unsafe interaction and follow the local emergency plan. This guide does not teach restraint or replace role-specific training.

Reference: CDC / NIOSH · workplace violence prevention course ↗

Preserve facts and evidence

Keep the original material secure and record who handles it.

1. Note the date, time, location, directly observed events and available witnesses. Distinguish what you saw from what someone told you.
2. Ask the authorised hospital custodian to preserve relevant CCTV before routine deletion. Keep original messages and files without editing them.
3. Use the blank evidence register to track items and handovers. Store completed records through your hospital’s authorised private process; obtain legal help for police submissions.

Reference: Government of India · hospital safety measures ↗

Support a colleague after an incident

Offer practical help and respect the person’s choices.

1. Check immediate needs: safety, medical care, someone trusted to stay with them, transport or cover for duties.
2. Listen if they wish to talk. Do not pressure them to retell the experience or promise confidentiality beyond your role.
3. Offer help to reach an appropriate professional and agree a follow-up. Keep an operational review separate from a personal support conversation.

Reference: WHO · psychological first aid ↗

Learn from threats and near misses

A narrowly avoided injury still deserves attention in the hospital’s reporting process.

1. Record the unsafe situation, the immediate action and the remaining hazard without waiting for an injury to occur.
2. Raise it with the designated safety lead. Use the action register to track a correction, an owner and a review date.
3. Review repeated locations, shifts and communication failures. Share learning without public names, accusations or patient details.

Reference: OSHA · healthcare workplace violence prevention ↗

Make reporting safe and straightforward

A planning brief for hospital administrators and the committee.

1. Give staff a clear route for reporting violence and abuse. Explain who receives reports and how concerns about retaliation can be raised.
2. Acknowledge the report, assess practical support needs and identify the person responsible for follow-up.
3. Include doctors and other staff in prevention decisions. Track improvement actions and communicate progress without revealing private accounts.

Reference: AMA · violence and abuse prevention policy ↗

Brief the next shift

Use a short, private huddle before responsibilities change hands.

1. Identify the shift lead, backup, security contact and available relief. Confirm who receives alerts and who escalates an unanswered request.
2. Check exits, equipment faults and unusual crowding. Share only necessary safety information through approved channels.
3. Review open actions and transfer responsibility explicitly. Use the handover sheet to record actual arrangements, rather than assuming cover.

Reference: BMA · preventing and reducing violence against staff ↗

Review what needs to change

A short operational review helps turn an incident or drill into prevention work.

1. Ask what happened, which parts of the plan helped and where communication, access or staffing failed.
2. Record corrective actions with an owner and review date. Check completion at the next meeting.
3. Keep personal support voluntary and private. Review the system without requiring affected staff to relive the incident in a group.

Reference: WHO · psychological first aid ↗

Blank working templates

Open these CSV files in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets. Completed forms may contain private information; keep them in your hospital’s approved secure records. Downloading a form does not submit it to the committee.

Also available: security staffing agreements in PDF and Word →

International guidance and training

Explore the original resources for their full scope. Training enrolment, access and certificates are managed by the source organisation.

• OSHA · healthcare workplace violence prevention ↗
• BMA · preventing and reducing violence against staff ↗
• AMA · violence and abuse prevention policy ↗
• CDC / NIOSH · workplace violence prevention course ↗
• WHO · psychological first aid ↗
• Victoria Department of Health · response procedures ↗
• Government of India · hospital safety measures ↗

Sources reviewed 10 September 2026. These organisations have not endorsed this project.