As part of a broad emphasis on workplace safety amid an industrywide rise in violence against healthcare workers, St. Tammany Health System is equipping some colleagues with personal panic buttons designed to alert security in the event of a threatening situation.
The alert devices, which are attached to colleagues’ ID badges, are being paid for partly with money raised through the health system’s annual Employee Giving Campaign, which this year saw 818 colleagues pledge a total of $114,225 to St. Tammany Hospital Foundation.
Of that, $7,000 was designated by donating colleagues to support the Colleague Safety Initiative after the idea was first raised by Director of Security Kenny Norris. The foundation contributed another $20,000 for the initiative through its Little Grant Big Impact program, bringing the total to $27,000.
That money is financing a pilot program to be implemented initially in select areas of concern identified by health system leadership. If deemed effective, it could be implemented in other parts of the health system.
According to STHS Chief Operative Officer Sharon Toups, the panic buttons are an outgrowth of a larger workplace safety program at the health system that includes creation of a workplace violence committee chaired by Norris. Additionally, STHS participates in a workplace violence collaborative organized by Vizient to share ideas with other hospitals and health systems.
Workplace violence in medical facilities has been called a quiet, growing epidemic. A recent story published by USA Today cited Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers that showed healthcare workers are at five times greater risk of being injured by violence than employees in any other private-sector industry.
Additionally, since 2011, hospitals have seen the rate of attacks reported against healthcare workers grow by about 60%.
“That’s unacceptable,” Norris said. “With this program, our goal is to keep our colleagues safer while on the job so they can focus on their heroic work to save lives and keep our community healthy.”