Introduction

Workplace violence has become a global concern. Working in health institutions involves high-risk situations, providing an environment favorable to agressions. Monitoring the health of workers and managing professional risk is the responsibility of the Occupational Safety, Hygiene and Health Services, which must aim to minimize risks and prevent these events, taking in mind the physical and psychological well-being of employees.

Aims

Characterization of work accidents resulting from physical attacks on Health Professionals, at a Local Health Unit, between 2018 and 2022.

Methods

Retrospective study of general work accidents and physical violence between 2018 and December 2022, with data obtained through the software used in the Occupational Health Service, UTILsst ®.

Results

There were 572 accidents at work in general, of which 85% were women, with an average age of 47 years, mostly nurses (42%) and a total of 11.540 working days lost. Regarding workplace accidents due to physical violence, 20 accidents were recorded, involving a total of 14 professionals, with an average age of 42 years old and 75% of the accidents occurred in the Psychiatry service. The majority of accidents (55%) occurred among Operational Assistants, followed by Nurses (40%). Within the Psychiatry service, 60% of attacks occurred against Operational Assistants, the majority of whom were male. There was an increasing trend in the number of accidents over time and a total of 229 working days lost, 221 of these days in the Psychiatry service.

Discussion and Conclusion

Violence is a public health problem, of high importance in health institutions. From the study carried out, the Psychiatry service was the most affected, which is largely justified by the type of patient, and demonstrates the need to create and implement preventive measures in this service. Operational Assistants and Nurses are the most affected as they are those who provide the most direct care. The trend of cases over time increased, justified by the increase in cases of violence, greater awareness of notification and the degradation of mental health during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the developments in the fight against violence, it continues to exist, especially in the context of healthcare provision. This is a problem that interests, affects and is everyone's responsibility in order to achieve environments free of violence.

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