Violence risk assessments and ethics in three Swedish government agencies

Abstract

According to the Swedish Work Environment Act, the responsibility for ensuring a safe work environment is placed with the employer. This project aims at studying three state agencies in the light of this responsibility. The three authorities - the Social Insurance Agency, the Migration Board and the National Board of Institutional Care has in common that their clients' personal welfare is affected by the decisions made by these authorities. The common occurrence of negative decisions in these authorities is a known risk factor for producing violence aimed at the public officials. The project is aimed at providing a deeper understanding of how the knowledge that forms the base for the risk-assessment of violence in these authorities is gathered. Three studies will be performed, each analyzing different source: 1) Guidelines 2) Interviews with employees responsible for safety issues in the authorities 3) Incident reports or occurrence investigations. Questions are directed towards understanding the production of knowledge about violence. What assumptions about violence are visible? What occurrence of violence do the authorities have to handle? What factors are causing the problems of violence? Can the roots of violence be trace to the inside or the outside of the authority? What activities will be risk-assessed (or not)? When do the rights of the clients and employees collide? How can harms be avoided? ; Postdoc grant (FORTE): Violence and Threat Risk Assessment in three government agencies