Aggression Prevention & Management Project Industry Forum

Monday 29th August 2005
10.00am to 3.30pm
The Royal Melbourne Hospital

Agenda and presentations

The Safety Development Fund Prevention and Management of Aggression Project is a three-year joint initiative by WorkSafe Victoria, Melbourne Health and Northeast Health Wangaratta to develop and promote best-practice standards across the health care industry in Victoria. The Project promotes a framework which complies with the new Occupational Health and Safety Act and is capable of practical implementation.

Its first Industry Forum was held at The Royal Melbourne Hospital on the 29 August, with a series of similar events planned periodically until mid 2008. Attended by more than 100 delegates from Victorian Health Services, Health Sector Unions, Professional Organisations, Universities and the Department of Human Services, the Forum provided an opportunity to raise awareness about industry issues and to identify and discuss mechanisms that will allow these issues to be addressed. Delegates agreed that more needs to be done, and concerns were expressed that ad-hoc clinical management of aggression continues to pose risks for staff, patients and the community. Furthermore, delegates felt that many current approaches focus on incident management; and that a paradigm shift is required to ensure that the "Hierarchy of Controls" is applied. Melbourne Health based Project Officer Hagen Tuschke stressed that the effective management of complex industry wide interrelationships is vital too and that the review and implementation of 'industry change' strategies be achieved through the development of a 'culture of sharing'.

The Forum was regarded as a success, and a second Industry Forum will be held on 22 November at the University of Melbourne (School of Rural Health) in Shepparton.

For more details, send an email to Hagen.Tuschke@mh.org.au.

Agenda and presentations

Aggression Prevention & Management Project Industry Forum Agenda (PDF File 88KB)

Welcome, Introduction and Housekeeping (PDF File 200KB)
Mr Gary Robertson, Manager Occupational Risk

Project Update (PDF File 680KB)
Mr Hagen Tuschke & Ms Deborah Smith, Project Officers

A Rural Ambulance Victoria Perspective (PDF File 171KB)
Mr Stephen Ford, Senior Project Officer

Tiered Response to Aggression and Assault Management (TRAAM) Program at Northeast Health Wangaratta (PDF File 116KB)
Mr Greg Benton, Nurse Unit Manager Emergency Department

Aggression Management Program at Eastern Health (PDF File 97KB)
Ms Sara Warne, SAFE Coordinator

Management of Acute Behavioural Disturbances in Paediatrics and Adolescents (An Approach at The Royal Children’s Hospital) (PDF File 225KB)
Ms Leanne Shea, Acting Clinical Operations Manager
Mr Luke McLaughlin, OHS Mangaer

“Hot Topic” Panel Discussion (PDF File 1.31MB)
Mr Graham Dent, Partner
Mr John Wallace, Industrial Counsel
Facilitated by MareeHogan, Executive Client Manager, Public Sector & Community Services Industry Program