Reducing Workplace Violence in Healthcare with AI-Enhanced Threat Detection
- By Michael Peveler
- September 08, 2025
Healthcare facilities are often regarded as sanctuaries of care and healing, yet they are increasingly becoming hotspots for workplace violence. Nurses, physicians, technicians, and support staff face threats ranging from verbal abuse to physical assault with alarming frequency. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), healthcare workers are four times more likely to suffer workplace violence injuries than workers in private industry overall. This grim reality not only jeopardizes staff safety but can also disrupt patient care, erode morale, and increase turnover — a cascading risk for an industry already grappling with labor shortages.
As the challenges of workplace safety evolve, so too must the solutions. A promising frontier in this fight is the deployment of AI-enhanced risk mitigation and threat detection technologies designed to act as vigilant digital sentinels — scanning, interpreting, and alerting staff to threats in real time, often before an incident escalates. This approach reframes workplace violence prevention from reactive response to proactive risk mitigation, fundamentally shifting how healthcare organizations safeguard both people and operations.
The Growing Crisis of Violence in Healthcare
Workplace assaults in healthcare settings have steadily increased over the past decade. Emergency departments, psychiatric units, and long-term care facilities are particularly vulnerable. Incidents can stem from patients in crisis, stressed family members, or even visitors whose grievances spiral out of control. Meanwhile, the 24/7 nature of healthcare services, high patient volumes, and emotionally charged environments create fertile ground for conflict.
Traditional security measures like guards, badge access, and panic buttons play an important role, but have inherent limitations. Security personnel cannot monitor every hallway, waiting area, or parking lot simultaneously. Cameras may record events, but without real-time threat recognition, video footage often serves more as forensic evidence than a prevention tool.
Healthcare leaders now recognize that to truly reduce violence, facilities need more than passive surveillance—they need intelligent, automated threat detection that can watch tirelessly and respond instantaneously.
The Rise of AI-Enhanced Threat Detection and Risk Mitigation
This next-generation approach turns a traditionally reactive or archiving system of security cameras into a proactive, accurate detection system without adding additional security headcount. The system analyzes live video feeds continuously, recognizing patterns and behaviors that indicate potential threats. Unlike traditional surveillance systems, which simply record, AI-enhanced systems interpret what they see. The AI technology analyzes patterns and anomalies in the camera feeds without storing or using personally identifiable information (PII) or facial recognition, making them particularly well-suited for healthcare facilities given HIPAA compliance and other privacy regulations.
For example, an AI system can detect if someone is brandishing a weapon or trespassing in restricted areas. It can recognize slip-and-fall risks that might spark confrontations and even flag unauthorized vehicles that pose security concerns. When suspicious behavior is identified, the system can automatically alert security personnel or designated responders within seconds, enabling swift de-escalation before the situation worsens.
This proactive layer of situational awareness is transformative. By filtering vast amounts of video data in real time, AI relieves the burden on human operators, who can focus on verified threats rather than scanning dozens of screens for hours on end. Equally important, AI-enhanced risk mitigation works around the clock. Unlike human staff who need breaks and rotations, algorithms do not fatigue. They watch every corridor, waiting area, and entrance simultaneously — ensuring that even off-hours shifts have the same level of protection as peak daytime operations.
Real-World Impact: From Incident Response to Prevention
While no technology can eliminate workplace violence entirely, early adopters of AI-enhanced threat detection are seeing encouraging results. Faster identification of potential threats translates directly into faster interventions. Security teams can approach an agitated visitor sooner, calm a distressed patient before aggression escalates, or lock down an area preemptively if a weapon is detected.
This proactive posture not only prevents harm but also sends a clear message to staff: their safety is a priority. In a time when healthcare workers face record burnout and mental health strain, demonstrating a commitment to a secure work environment can boost morale, increase retention, and reduce costly turnover.
Moreover, reducing incidents helps limit the ripple effects of violence — medical costs, workers’ compensation claims, legal expenses, and reputational damage can be significant. By preventing violence before it occurs, AI-driven systems become a cost-effective investment in both physical security and operational resilience.
Risk Mitigation Example
At an Iowa-based hospital, slips and falls are a common concern, especially for patients in the Behavioral Health Unit who can’t wear shoes. As part of a patient improvement initiative, the hospital installed a risk mitigation and threat detection platform to identify slips and falls in this unit.
Risk mitigation software was installed on existing cameras in the Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit and crisis hallway, which autonomously scans for hazards without getting bored, fatigued, or distracted, allowing the hospital to identify and address a hazard, like a spill, before a slip and fall occurs. Once a hazard is detected, alerts are immediately sent to designated contacts so the hazard can be addressed before an incident occurs, decreasing response times and reducing the severity of the situation.
In one month alone, the risk mitigation platform helped staff mitigate 68 slip and fall risks by identifying spills and sending immediate alerts to janitorial staff. Along with avoiding injuries, the risk mitigation platform provides significant cost savings, with the average slip and fall claim costing $50,000 or more. The hospital also implemented the risk mitigation platform on cameras around priority security areas and entry points, including the emergency department, to scan for fallen persons. These alerts are valuable for recognizing when someone has been dropped off and left outside the ED, allowing staff to come to their immediate aid.
With the risk mitigation platform monitoring the cameras, hospital security can function more efficiently and better prepare for response.
Looking Ahead
Workplace violence in healthcare is a complex challenge with no single fix. However, by embracing intelligent, AI-enhanced risk mitigation, healthcare organizations can move decisively toward a safer, more secure environment for caregivers and patients alike.
As healthcare facilities continue to invest in digital transformation, integrating AI-enhanced threat detection into their safety toolkit is not just forward-thinking — it’s increasingly essential. In doing so, they send a powerful message: that the well-being of frontline caregivers is not negotiable and that every effort will be made to protect those who dedicate their lives to caring for others.
This article originally appeared in the September / October 2025 issue of Campus Security Today.