The Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression (DASA) is a risk assessment instrument developed in 2006 to assess the likelihood of a patient engaging in violence within 24 hours in a psychiatric inpatient environment. The aim of this study was to investigate whether DASA scores predict incidents of violence, restraints and seclusion in a 24-hour period on a psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU). This study also aimed to identify a meaningful DASA score which would suggest a high risk of an incident of violence occurring within 24 hours on a PICU. For two months, data collected for every inpatient on PICU were: daily DASA scores, incidents of violence, physical restraint or seclusion and whether the patient was deemed appropriate to transfer from PICU to an acute ward. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves assessed the ability of DASA scores to predict incidents. Higher DASA scores were significantly associated with decreased odds of a patient being deemed fit for transfer to an acute ward and with increased odds of an incident of violence, seclusion or restraint within 24 hours. With a DASA score of 4 or above, there is a 16% probability there will be an incident of violence, 21% probability of seclusion and 11% probability of restraint within 24 hours. The DASA score can be used to predict incidents of violence, seclusion and restraint in the following 24 hours in a PICU setting.