Workplace violence: legislation, public policies and possibility of advances for health workers.

Maiara Bordignon,Marta Regina Cezar-Vaz,Maria Inês Monteiro,Letícia De Lima Trindade

doi:10.1590/0034-7167-2020-0335

Abstract

to discuss specific laws and public policies for workplace violence in the health sector, highlighting possibilities for the collective confrontation of this phenomenon in Brazil. this is a reflective and argumentative study that refers to some previous experiences regarding the implementation of legal aspects to curb workplace violence directed at health professionals. there are experiences regarding the existence of legislation or public policies to specifically contain workplace violence in the health sector, but these are still restricted to some places or countries. The literature provides resources for developing specific strategies for managing this phenomenon, highlighting prevention programs and conducts for case management. implementation of legal aspects or public policies at the municipal, regional, state and/or national level is a strategy with potential to confront workplace violence in health services in a collective and sustainable way.

Highlights

Workplace violence is not a recent social phenomenon, but since 1980 it has gained greater public visibility with news reports on incidents of homicide at the workplace in areas that are not recognized as being under high risk of violence(1)
It is identified in studies that workplace violence has occurred in a variety of ways in different professional strata and health work environments, including Primary Health Care (PHC) services, hospital units, emergency services, mental health services, and radiology services(4-5)
The fact that health professionals are exposed to various situations that are among the risk factors for workplace violence – such as direct relationships with distressed and frustrated people, high levels of stress, and the provision of assistance in territories that often hold conflict areas or drug trafficking – highlights the importance of the theme for this professional category(3,6)

Summary

Introduction

Workplace violence is not a recent social phenomenon, but since 1980 it has gained greater public visibility with news reports on incidents of homicide at the workplace in areas that are not recognized as being under high risk of violence(1). Conceptualizing workplace violence is a challenge in the face of cultural and behavioral influences, as well as theoretical conceptions on the subject, it is understood that such events are incidents in which workers are targets of offensive, aggressive or threatening behavior under circumstances that hold a relationship with the work to be performed(3). This definition includes the different characteristics of acts of violence that are taken into consideration in attempts to propose terms and concepts for their variations(3). The fact that health professionals are exposed to various situations that are among the risk factors for workplace violence – such as direct relationships with distressed and frustrated people, high levels of stress, and the provision of assistance in territories that often hold conflict areas or drug trafficking – highlights the importance of the theme for this professional category(3,6)

Objectives

Findings

Methods