Call for action

How can you enhance the safety of health workers and patients?

Your own safety starts with you: Take care of your physical and psychological health
Protect your safety and that of the people you care for
Ensure you are trained and aware of infection prevention and control and implement appropriate measures
Proactively contribute to building and strengthening a safety culture at work
Improve your knowledge, skills and competencies for safety in health care
Know your rights and responsibilities and call for a safe work environment
Always report safety risks, violence, harassment or threats to the authorities
Promote and implement innovative safety practices within your organization

Formulate, update and implement policies and legislation to ensure the safety of health workers and patients
Develop and promote legislation for the protection of health workers’ and patients’ rights
Ensure appropriate and sufficient personal protective equipment and hand hygiene items, as well as the provision of a supportive, safe working environment and sufficient resources to improve the safety of working conditions in health care settings
Increase staffing levels and create the means to empower health workers: this will prevent infections, improve the quality of care and ensure a culture of patient safety
Co-design safety programmes with professional associations, health workers, patient organizations, civil society organizations, communities and trade unions
Implement ethical principles for managers and policy-makers that include the duty to provide safe health care, and the duty to protect health workers’ safety and patients’ safety
Enact legal and regulatory provisions which prohibit violence against health workers and patients

Create an open, equitable and transparent safety culture for health workers and patients which allows the reporting of safety incidents in a timely manner
Create a supportive, safe working environment and implement innovative safety practices based on a human factors and ergonomics approach
Empower health workers to provide safe and clean care
Ensure appropriate training and guidance in infection prevention and control
Provide sufficient resources to improve the safety of working conditions in health care settings
Engage health workers, patients and their families in continuous safety improvement practices
Prioritize and invest in occupational health and safety to improve patient safety
Implement activities on promoting role modelling and mental health to alleviate stress in the workplace
Ensure that mechanisms for the reward and motivation of health workers are in place and used appropriately

Generate evidence in the area of health worker safety and patient safety, including infection prevention and control, to inform policy, regulations and standards of practice
Incorporate health worker safety, patient safety and infection prevention and control in educational curricula and continuing professional development, with a focus on human factors and ergonomic design principles
Develop e-learning modules to deliver appropriate training for both health workers and patients
Prioritize safety research in primary care and in low- and middle-income settings
Conduct research to identify strategies for supporting the mental and emotional well-being of health workers
Develop indicators to measure progress and improvements in health worker safety, and patient safety, including infection prevention and control

Provide accurate information about your health and medical history
Safer care for you, starts with you: be aware and demand appropriate infection prevention and control practices
Enhance your knowledge about safety in health care
Raise safety concerns with your health providers
Advocate for the safety and protection of health workers at facility and community levels
Be actively involved in your own care
It is good to ask questions: safe health care starts with good communication

Work with governments to develop and promote legislation for the protection of health workers’ and patients’ rights
Work with governments to develop and promote legislation for the implementation of infection prevention and control, including access to sufficient and appropriate personal protective equipment
Prioritize and invest in health worker safety and patient safety
Promote and protect health workers’ safety through capacity-building, advocacy and assisting in implementing safety standards
Speak up against unsafe working conditions and violence against health workers
Support health workers in their right to have a safe working environment
Systematically monitor compliance with the regulations related to the health and safety of health workers

Engage different stakeholders and advocate for changes in systems, practices and policies for achieving safer health care
Promote the voice of patients in their own safety and the safety of health workers
Safer care for you, with you: be aware and demand appropriate infection prevention and control
Advocate for safety in health care, including safe working conditions for all health workers and in all health care facilities, as a minimum requirement
Advocate for infection prevention and control, including personal protective equipment for health workers, as well as hand hygiene
Mobilize the local community for providing support to community health workers and protecting their safety
Advocate for more research in the area of safety in health care

Invest in the innovation of cost-effective interventions to improve the safety of patients and health workers
Ensure continuous and regular supply chain management to avoid stock-outs of safety commodities
Ensure continuous and regular supply chain management for personal protective equipment and alcohol-based handrub for hand hygiene
Co-design medical devices with health workers and patients based on a human factors and ergonomics approach, to ensure safety
Provide access to data (for instance on the safe use of medical devices) to inform safety interventions