7 Essential Safety Conversations to Safely Manage Occupational Violence and Aggression Behaviours
Occupational violence and aggression (OVA) is a reality for many workplaces, especially in industries where staff interact directly with the public or clients under stress. While no organisation can completely eliminate the risk, you can take proactive steps to significantly reduce it, protecting employees, clients, and the organisation’s reputation and bottom line.
At Holland Thomas, we’ve trained thousands of professionals across healthcare, social services, government, and corporate environments to safely manage aggressive behaviours. We’ve seen firsthand that reducing incidents isn’t just about policies and compliance — it’s about fostering a culture where safety is prioritised, conversations are open, and staff are equipped with the skills and confidence to respond effectively.
This article explores seven essential workplace safety conversations that can transform your organisation’s approach to OVA. These conversations are designed not only to prevent harm but also to enhance wellbeing, increase operational efficiency, and deliver measurable business benefits.
Why Safety Conversations Matter
Many organisations underestimate the impact of OVA, until an incident forces them to confront it. The consequences can be severe:
- For staff — physical injuries, psychological harm, reduced morale, and increased absenteeism.
- For clients — diminished service quality, reduced trust, and increased risk of harm.
- For the organisation — reputational damage, legal exposure, and increased costs.
Workplace safety conversations create a shared understanding of risk, responsibility, and prevention strategies. They open the door for staff to raise concerns early, encourage collaborative problem-solving, and make safety a visible, ongoing priority.
Before the Seven Conversations: Use the Right Language
The way your organisation talks about aggressive behaviours shapes the way they are understood, reported, and addressed.
Too often, all aggressive behaviours are lumped into a single category, making it difficult to identify trends or take targeted action. For example, verbal abuse, passive-aggressive behaviour, and physical assault may require different responses, but if they’re all logged as “aggression,” valuable data is lost.
Action step:
Define clear categories for aggressive behaviours in your policies and reporting systems. Ensure all staff use the same terminology. This makes incident reporting more precise, enabling data analysis that drives meaningful change.
1. Know Your Problem
Every workplace is unique. The nature, frequency, and triggers of OVA will vary based on your industry, location, and operational practices.
Start by analysing your incident data (even if under-reported) to identify patterns. Are certain shifts, client profiles, or environments more prone to incidents? Are there particular tasks or policies that seem to trigger frustration or aggression?
Action step:
- Gather detailed incident reports, interviews, and observations.
- Look for underlying causes, not just immediate triggers.
- Beware of interchangeable terminology, ensure you’re comparing like with like.
Knowing your problem is the foundation for all other safety improvements.
2. Create an Open Door Policy
A culture of silence around OVA puts staff at greater risk. If employees fear judgement, reprisal, or being ignored, they’ll stop reporting problems, and leaders will be left unaware until it’s too late.
An open-door policy signals that concerns about safety will be heard, valued, and acted upon. Leaders at all levels must encourage open dialogue, respond constructively, and avoid defensiveness.
As General Colin Powell famously said: “The day your people stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them.”
Action step:
Train leaders to listen actively and respond supportively. Make it clear that reporting incidents or near misses is encouraged, not penalised.
3. Build a Meaningful Culture of Staff Safety
A workplace safety culture isn’t just about compliance posters and annual training, it’s about the daily messages’ leaders send, consciously or unconsciously.
Ask yourself: is your safety message more like “We get in there and get the job done” or “Our safety is paramount”?
If staff believe productivity always trumps safety, they may take unnecessary risks, downplay hazards, or fail to report incidents.
Action step:
- Make safety part of every team meeting agenda.
- Publicly acknowledge safe behaviour and quick reporting.
- Lead by example. If leaders cut corners, staff will too.
4. Conduct Continuous Hazard Assessments
Workplaces are dynamic environments. People, conditions, and risks can change in seconds. That’s why hazard assessments shouldn’t just happen once a year, they should be a continuous habit.
This means constantly scanning for risks, from environmental hazards (poor lighting, blocked exits) to procedural drivers of aggression (frustrating wait times, confusing instructions).
Action step:
- Train staff to spot hazards early and report them immediately.
- Review processes to identify steps that might unintentionally provoke aggression.
- Encourage staff to share ideas for prevention, not just react after the fact.
5. Empower Your Staff
When aggression occurs, staff are often the first responders. If they’re not empowered to act decisively, situations can spiral quickly.
True empowerment means more than telling staff to “use their judgement.” It means providing:
- Skills — practical training that builds competence, not just compliance.
- Tools — communication aids, duress alarms, personal protective equipment.
- Authority — permission to prioritise safety over immediate task completion.
Action step:
If you hesitate to empower staff, ask yourself: is it because they lack skills, confidence, or support? Address those gaps immediately.
6. Implement 60-Second Incident Reporting
Many low-level incidents go unreported simply because reporting takes too long. Yet these “minor” events can be early warning signs of bigger issues.
A 60-second incident reporting system makes it quick and easy for staff to log incidents in real time. Over time, the data paints a clearer picture of trends, risks, and repeat patterns.
Action step:
- Introduce a short, mobile-friendly reporting form.
- Set KPIs for incident reporting rates.
- Review and act on data regularly, reporting is only useful if it leads to change.
7. Promote Your Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Psychological safety is as important as physical safety. Experiencing or witnessing aggression can take a significant emotional toll, even if no physical harm occurs.
Unfortunately, many employees either don’t know their EAP exists or see it as a last resort for “serious” issues. In reality, early use of EAP support can prevent long-term harm.
Action step:
- Regularly remind staff about EAP availability and confidentiality.
- Share (with permission) anonymised success stories to reduce stigma.
- Encourage managers to suggest EAP proactively after incidents.
Beyond Compliance: The Benefits of These Conversations
Implementing these seven conversations can lead to tangible improvements across your organisation:
For staff:
- Increased confidence in managing OVA.
- Better morale and wellbeing.
- Reduced stress and burnout.
For the organisation:
- Fewer incidents and related costs.
- Improved staff retention.
- Enhanced reputation as an employer of choice.
For clients and the community:
- Safer, more respectful interactions.
- Increased trust in your services.
Final Word
Preventing occupational violence and aggression isn’t just about ticking compliance boxes, it’s about creating a living, breathing safety culture that protects people, supports wellbeing, and drives better organisational outcomes.
At Holland Thomas, we partner with organisations to embed these conversations into everyday practice, providing training and support that turns safety principles into safety habits.
If you’re ready to make your workplace safer and more resilient, contact us to learn more about our tailored training programs.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Travis Holland
Managing Director
Holland Thomas
Should you wish to discuss strategies to improve your staff’s safety in their work environment, please feel welcome to contact Holland Thomas.
Passionate about creating safer workplaces our goal is to enhance wellbeing for all concerned, whilst also delivering improved operational and financial performance.
This blog draws on our years of experience delivering our M.A.B.™ Staff Safety Training (Contextualised Prevention and Management of Aggressive Behaviours) across Australia, and the development of My Safety Buddy, our smartphone app and web portal based lone worker safety system.