Program Effectiveness and Evaluation

The employer, with the Safety Team or Coordinator, shall evaluate the effectiveness of the WVPP at least annually or after serious incidents. The employer should attempt to describe within their WVPP the triggering event that will initiate a review, i.e., repeat incidents within a short time frame or an injury requiring more than basic first aid. The review should focus on incident trends and the effectiveness of the control measures. The review should also assess whether the reporting and record-keeping systems have been effective in collecting all relevant information.

Management should share workplace violence prevention evaluation reports with all employees. Any changes in the program should be discussed at regular meetings of the safety committee or other employee groups.

All reports should protect employee confidentiality either by presenting only aggregate data or by removing personal identifiers if individual data are used.

Processes involved in an evaluation include:

• Establishing a uniform violence reporting system and regular review of reports;
• Reviewing reports and minutes from staff meetings on safety and security issues;
• Analyzing trends and rates of illnesses, injuries, or fatalities caused by violence relative to initial or “baseline” rates;
• Measuring improvement based on lowering the frequency and severity of workplace violence;
• Keeping up-to-date records of administrative and work practice changes to prevent workplace violence to evaluate how well they work;
• Surveying employees before and after making job or worksite changes or installing security measures or new systems to determine their effectiveness;
• Complying with OSHA and State requirements for recording and reporting deaths, injuries, and illnesses;
• Requesting periodic law enforcement or outside consultant review of the worksite for recommendations on improving employee safety.