1. | Definitions| Employee means an individual who is employed by School District No. 36 (Surrey). | | Supervisor means an employee who instructs, directs or controls employees in the safe performance of their duties including managers, principals, vice- principals, foremen, supervisors, etc. | | District Safety Planning Protocol means a set of procedures developed by the school district that detail the required actions of various district departments and personnel with regard to Workplace Violence reporting, intervention, investigation and assessment leading to the potential for the development of a safety plan. | | District Threat Assessment Protocol means a set of interdisciplinary response procedures that are required when a student is involved in threat making behaviour. | | Policy means the Surrey Board of Education’s Workplace Violence Against Employees in the Workplace Policy. | | Safety Plan means a risk containment plan implemented when there is reasonable cause to believe that an employee may be injured. | | Workplace Violence means Workplace Violence as defined in the policy. | | Workplace Violence Risk Assessment Form an assessment form approved by the Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia (WorkSafeBC) which assesses the threat of violence directed toward an employee. |
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2. | Responsibilities2.1. | Responsibilities of Employees
All employees are responsible to:
| a) | Refrain from engaging in or encouraging workplace violence. | | b) | Follow safe work practices. | | c) | Comply with the reporting and other procedures implemented in this policy. | | d) | Report to their supervisor all incidents of actual or suspected workplace violence. |
| 2.2. | Responsibilities of Management
Every supervisor/manager/principal is responsible for promptly responding to and investigating allegations of workplace violence in accordance with the policy, and for ensuring that staff members are aware of any hazards and are trained and instructed in the appropriate actions to take for protection from acts or threats of violence. |
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3. | Procedures| The supervisor/principal/manager will work collaboratively with a worker representative member of the site-based joint health and safety committee, if they are reasonably available, with regard to investigating incidences of violence in the workplace that arise from parties outside the workforce. |
3.1. | Investigation
Incidents of Workplace Violence will be promptly investigated as follows:
Workplace Violence perpetrated by employees will be investigated by management personnel in accordance with applicable collective agreements or contract of employment.
Workplace Violence perpetrated by non-employees will be investigated by the school district in collaboration with an employee representative of the applicable Joint Health and Safety Committee (if reasonably available). | 3.2. | Annual Review and Training
Each supervisor shall conduct an annual review with staff members of the principles and procedures set out in the policy and these regulations, including:
| a) | Review of the definition of workplace violence in the policy and applicable Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia policies and guidelines. | | b) | Each staff member’s responsibility to report immediately, incidents of workplace violence directed toward them. | | c) | Any workplace violence strategies developed by the school district specific to the work site. |
| 3.3. | Response to Incidents
If an incident of workplace violence occurs the supervisor shall, in consultation with the affected employees and an employee representative from the applicable Joint Health and Safety Committee (if available), take the following actions:
| a) | Assess the situation to determine if the employee has been physically injured or emotionally traumatized or is at risk of such injury. | | b) | Arrange, as appropriate, for first aid treatment through the site First Aid Attendant, 911 emergency response procedures and/or arrange for further treatment as necessary. | | c) | Advise the employee to consult with a physician as appropriate. | | d) | Provide the employee with immediate relief from work responsibility, as appropriate. | | e) | Assist the affected employee to make appropriate decisions regarding resumption of their duties and facilitate any necessary support. | | f) | If the employee elects to complete their shift, on the day the incident occurs, the supervisor will incorporate measures to ensure that the employee’s exposure to the aggressor/instigator is minimized. | | g) | If requested, coordinate contact with the Surrey/White Rock RCMP, as appropriate, if the affected employee wants to press criminal charges against the aggressor. | | h) | If the affected employee is sent home following an incident, the supervisor will arrange for transportation if the employee is unable to drive. | | i) | Counsels the affected employee to maintain his or her own documentation of the incident and pertinent subsequent events for future reference. | | j) | Provide the employees with such other support as may be reasonably required in the circumstances. | | k) | Apply, in the event of a crisis, the provisions of the District Critical Incident Resource Guide. | | l) | If the perpetrator is a student, act in accordance with Policy #9410 – Safe and Caring Schools. | | m) | Implement the District Safety Plan Protocol (see the document Safety Planning: Providing for the Safety of District Employees – Student Support Services); | | n) | Implement the District Threat Assessment Protocol (see the Surrey School District Critical Incident Quick Reference), if the incident in question involves student threat-making behavior. |
Police notification should be coordinated by the supervisor where any incident of workplace violence involves physical aggressions or serious threats of physical harm. In the absence of an immediate threat, non- emergency procedures should be used to notify police. In any other case where an ongoing threat or risk of harm exists, 911 procedures should be utilized.
Following an incident, the supervisor shall facilitate the following additional notifications:
| a) | Contact the affected employee’s family members to advise them of the situations, with the consent of the Employee. | | b) | Notify the affected employee’s supervisor of the incident, when the employee is not a staff member of the supervisor. | | c) | Contacts the Employee & Family Assistance Program (EFAP) or Student Support Services to arrange a Critical Incident Stress Debriefing session to be held within 24 to 48 hours, if warranted. The session is to be conducted by qualified personnel. The debriefing should be offered to all staff that were involved in the incident. | | d) | Contacts the Manager, Health, Safety and Benefits, Human Resources, if assistance is required. |
The Supervisor will carefully document all workplace violence. The supervisor will:
| a) | Assist the affected employee with the completion of the Employee Injury Incident Report (Employee Section) or, if necessary and possible, complete the same on the employee’s behalf. | | b) | Complete the accident investigation portion of the Employee Injury Incident Report. | | c) | Submit the employee Injury Incident Report to Human Resources, within 48 hours. |
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4. | RESPONDING TO WORKPLACE VIOLENCE| Employees should not jeopardize their health and safety when there is reasonable cause to believe that responding to a violent incident would create an undue hazard to the employee’s health or safety. | | Incidents of workplace violence shall be immediately reported by employees to their supervisor/manager/principal. Incidents of workplace violence perpetrated by a supervisor/manager/principal should be reported to the superintendent. | | Incidents of Workplace Violence shall be investigated as follows: |
a) | The supervisor/manager/principal shall investigate incidents or reports of workplace violence, including those that could result in employee discipline consistent with applicable collective agreements or contracts of employment. | b) | The supervisor/principal/manager will investigate and work collaboratively with a worker representative member of the site-based joint health and safety committee (if reasonably available) in investigating incidences of violence in the workplace involving non-employees. | c) | The superintendent or his/her designate shall investigate incidents of workplace violence perpetrated by a supervisor/manage/principal. |
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5. | RISK ASSESSMENT| Supervisors/principals/managers will ensure that ongoing risk identification is conducted to identify and address the potential for violent incidents. | | A risk assessment shall be promptly carried out by the supervisor/principal/manager whenever there is reasonable cause to believe that an employee, is at risk or an incident of violence may be directed toward an employee. | | Once risks are identified, the supervisor/principal/manager will be responsible for the development of a risk control plan to mitigate against the potential for further workplace violence directed toward an employee. When developing a risk control plan, the supervisor/principal/manager may, as appropriate or necessary, consult with any or all of the following departments/organizations (Superintendents’ Office, Safe Schools, Student Support Services, Health Safety & Benefits, STA, CUPE, the RCMP) and others as appropriate. | An employee who is at risk, will be informed as to the known potential violence in terms of the nature and extent of the risk. Employees will be provided with information, procedures and risk control strategies where they are likely to encounter such risk in the course of their work.
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