Occupational Safety & Health · Health workers

Violence against health workers

Physical and verbal violence from patients and relatives — the most common occupational hazard in health care and the least recorded in Georgia.

Last updated: 3 October 2026

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Overview

WHO reports that between 8% and 38% of health workers suffer physical violence at some point in their careers, that up to 62% experience some form of workplace violence, and that verbal abuse (58%), threats (33%) and sexual harassment (12%) are the most common non-physical forms; nurses, emergency department staff and paramedics are most at risk (WHO). Violence harms health workers' physical and psychological well-being and motivation, and so compromises the quality of care (WHO).

GILS found no published Georgian data on this hazard. This page therefore sets out the international evidence and the standards that apply, and defines what the GILS 2027 survey of health workers with the David Tvildiani Medical University School of Public Health will measure.

Key figures

8–38%

Health workers who suffer physical violence at some point in their careers

WHO

Up to 62%

Health workers who have experienced workplace violence

WHO

58% · 33% · 12%

Verbal abuse, threats and sexual harassment reported by health workers

WHO

No. 190

ILO Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 — not ratified by Georgia

ILO NORMLEX

Standards and frameworks

Instruments
Instrument	Content	Georgia
ILO Convention No. 190 (2019) and Recommendation No. 206	Right to a world of work free from violence and harassment, including by third parties such as patients	Not ratified
WHO, ILO, ICN and PSI Framework guidelines for addressing workplace violence in the health sector (2002)	Prevention policies, reporting, training, support for victims; a survey questionnaire and protocol	Reference instrument
Labour Code of Georgia, Article 4	Prohibits harassment, including sexual harassment, at work	In force; the Labour Inspection Service found sexual harassment in one case between January 2021 and October 2023 (Social Justice Center et al., 2023)
WHO and ILO (2022)	Violence prevention as an element of health-facility programmes	Guidance

What works

Facility-level reporting systems that record every incident, including verbal abuse, and feed into risk assessment.
Managing high-risk situations: waiting-time communication, triage design, security presence in emergency departments, de-escalation training.
Support for affected staff: debriefing, legal assistance, zero-tolerance policies communicated to the public.
Legal protection: several European countries have strengthened penalties for assaults on health workers.

Public health perspective (WHO)

WHO classifies violence against health workers as a threat to health-care provision: it harms staff well-being and motivation and so compromises quality of care (WHO). The WHO–ILO–ICN–PSI framework guidelines (2002) are a joint health–labour instrument; WHO also collects data on attacks on health care in emergencies. The response therefore sits with hospital management and the health ministry as much as with the inspectorate or the police. Workers' health: the public health perspective.

What the GILS 2027 survey will measure

Physical and verbal violence in the last 12 months, by setting (emergency, inpatient, primary care, ambulance).
Perpetrators (patients, relatives, colleagues) and whether incidents were reported and to whom.
Existence of a facility policy and training.

Legal sources (Matsne, with article numbers)

Statutory references on this page are to the following acts in the Legislative Herald of Georgia (Matsne), with the articles relied on. English translations on Matsne are official for the Labour Code and the Labour Inspection law; the Occupational Safety law's English text is an unofficial translation.


Act	Official text	Articles relied on
Organic Law — Labour Code of Georgia (No. 4113-რს, 17 December 2010, as amended; major amendment No. 7177, 29 September 2020)	Matsne 1155567	Art. 2 and 4 — discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment, equal pay for equal work; Art. 10 — minimum age 16 (14 with consent for light work), hazardous work barred for minors and pregnant women; Art. 17 — probation up to 6 months; Art. 24 — 40-hour week, 48 hours in listed sectors, 12-hour daily and 24-hour weekly rest, working-time records; Art. 27 — overtime; Art. 28 — night work 22:00–06:00, barred for minors and pregnant women, 8-hour cap in hazardous work; Art. 31 — 24 working days' paid leave, 10 extra days for hazardous work; Art. 37 and 39 — maternity leave 126 days, state benefit; Art. 45 — safe and healthy working environment, right to refuse dangerous work, employer's duty to compensate harm; Art. 47–49 — termination grounds, notice and compensation, collective redundancies; Art. 52–57 — freedom of association, collective agreements; Art. 61–67 — disputes, mediation, strike and lockout, essential services; Art. 70 — information and consultation through elected employee representatives in enterprises of 50 or more
Organic Law of Georgia on Occupational Safety (19 February 2019; replaced the Law of March 2018)	Matsne 4486188	Employer duties, risk assessment, designation of an occupational safety specialist, workers' rights, inspection powers and sanctions; applies to all sectors
Law of Georgia on the Labour Inspection Service (No. 7178-Iს, 29 September 2020)	Matsne 5003057	Art. 2 — legal status; Art. 4 — governing acts; Art. 5 — aim and functions; Art. 13–16 — inspection powers; Art. 20 — reporting
Government Decree No. 381 — list of heavy, harmful and hazardous works	Matsne (Georgian)	Defines hazardous work for the purposes of the Labour Code and the Occupational Safety law
Government Decree No. 597 — sectors with specific working regimes (48-hour week)	Matsne (Georgian)	Implements Labour Code Art. 24(3)

Consolidated versions change; the links open the current consolidated text. GILS cites the version in force at the date of the page's "Last updated".

Related across the PHIG network

Health-worker safety is where GILS's evidence meets the accreditation standards, training and resources produced elsewhere in the PHIG network.

ASF Hospital Standard — Human Resources and staff safety chapters (Accréditation Sans Frontières): the accreditation requirements for staff immunisation, sharps safety, violence prevention and occupational health in facilities.
ASF free resources: hand-hygiene and transmission posters, patient-safety tools — print-ready A4 materials for wards.
GMJ Academy — ASF Accreditation and Patient Safety courses — free until the end of 2026.
PHIG — Health and Migration Observatory — for migrant health workers and health-system capacity.
GMJ News · Work & Health — GILS analyses as published by the newsroom.

GILS is a programme of the Public Health Institute of Georgia; see the PHIG network.

Sources

WHO. Preventing violence against health workers. www.who.int
WHO. Occupational hazards in the health sector: violence and harassment. www.who.int
ILO. Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190). normlex.ilo.org
Social Justice Center et al. (2023). Submission to the UN CESCR (archived copy). web.archive.org
WHO and ILO (2022). Caring for those who care. www.who.int

Figures are from the GILS Evidence Register and the official sources shown. GILS is independent of government, trade unions, employers' organisations and the ILO.