NDS Board and Senior Leaders Network Meeting: Work Related Violence in Residential Disability Accommodation

In the past 12 months work has been completed on a Systems Thinking Analysis of Work-Related Violence in the Australian Residential Disability Sector. This work was funded by WorkSafe Victoria who worked in partnership with Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and National Disability Services.

The research used Rasmussen’s (1997) systems-thinking, risk management framework, which is widely used for understanding and preventing incidents in work systems. The researchers followed five guiding principles:

1. Shared responsibility for safety
2. Multiple, interacting factors
3. Communication
4. Pressures in the system
5. Erosion of risk controls

The value of a systems-thinking framework is the findings go deep into the interconnected responsibilities of government, funders, regulators, organisations, service management, frontline supervisors, and the frontline workforce. Four contributing themes emerged from the analysis of the data and consultations, pointing to where actions can be taken to address work-related violence:

• staff capability
• the physical environment
• safety culture and safety leadership
• resident compatibility

The report is can be downloaded in pdf form and there is also an infographic (pdf) that summarises the research.

This session will hear from the research team, who will discuss finding and recommendations with a particular focus on what can be learnt with a focus on board and senior leaders and the theme of safety culture and safety leadership.

Reference: Rasmussen, J. (1997). Risk management in a dynamic society: a modelling problem. Safety Science, 27(2), 183-213.

Presenters:

Professor Sharon Newnam Head of School, Psychology and Counselling at QUT. Sharon has published widely in workplace safety from a systems-thinking perspective and has applied this knowledge to improve safety across industries, including transportation and healthcare.

Olivia Dobson is a research assistant working in the School of Psychology and Counselling, QUT. Liv completed her honours in psychology at Monash University. She has experience conducting qualitative and quantitative research in the fields of road safety, occupational health and safety, public health, and neuroethics.

Who Should Attend?

NDS recommends that Board Members and Senior Leaders within disability service organisations are most suited to attend.

Event details

Date: Wednesday 14 August
Time: 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm AEST
Location: Online

Cost

Free