SCHA’s Workplace Violence Collaborative Releases 2024 Annual Report
The South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA)’s Workplace Violence Collaborative is releasing their second annual report that tracks the incidents of violence in its member facilities as well as the implementation of best practices and other strategies to protect healthcare workers against assault.
With roughly 4 in 5 hospitals in South Carolina now participating, the Collaborative’s data tracks an average of seven hospital workers facing assault or other aggressive behavior at work every day, with a total of 2,646 incidents reported in 2024. The report also shows marked improvement in how hospitals respond to and mitigate those incidents, with increasing numbers of hospitals reporting that they provide annual training drills, identify and track patients with a history of staff assault, and perform after-action reviews as part of a comprehensive workplace violence program.
The Collaborative began in part to bring awareness to the scale of this problem. A 2020 Bureau of Labor Statistics Fact Sheet found that healthcare workers accounted for 78 percent of all nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses due to violence in 2018, and that the incidence has been steadily increasing since tracking began in 2011. Assault on healthcare workers are also financially expensive, with hospitals nationally reporting a loss of more than $18.5 billion a year in worker’s compensation, injury recovery, and other related costs, according to the American Hospital Association.
“By standardizing how we collect data on workplace violence, we can better inform policy decisions, support prevention efforts, and ensure transparency for both state leaders and the public,” says SCHA President & CEO Thornton Kirby. “Ultimately, we want to protect our healthcare heroes so we can build a better state of health for South Carolina.”
The full SCHA report is based on data voluntarily reported by hospitals participating in the South Carolina Workplace Collaborative, which was established by SCHA and healthcare risk management consulting firm Antum Risk in 2023. The collaborative’s goals are to standardize collection of workplace violence data, develop strategies for prevention and intervention, share innovative solutions and best practices, and inform state leaders and the public about the prevalence and impact of violence in healthcare settings.
For media requests, contact Karlin Gill at kgill@scha.org.