SCDC POLICY/PROCEDURE

NUMBER: ADM-11.27

ISSUE DATE: JULY 1, 2004

ACA/CAC STANDARDS: NONE

PURPOSE:  To provide guidelines for the assistance available to Agency employees who may be experiencing difficulties as a result of a duty-related trauma.

POLICY STATEMENT: The South Carolina Department of Corrections is concerned about the safety, health, and well-being of its employees. Recognizing that specific accident/violent work related events can result in serious physical and/or emotional trauma, the Agency will provide confidential assistance to all SCDC employees, as necessary, through the PAIR program. PAIR representatives are qualified employees who will also act as resource personnel, providing peer support, information, and, if necessary, referral following the occurrence of an assault or other serious event, as indicated in paragraph 3.d. of this policy/procedure.

SPECIFIC PROCEDURES:

1. POST ASSAULT INFORMATION RESOURCE REPRESENTATIVES:

1.1 Each Warden will be responsible for selecting employees to serve as Post Assault Information Resource (PAIR) representatives. The Safety Program Manager/designee in the Division of Compliance, Standards, and Inspections will be responsible for selecting a PAIR representative(s) for Central Office. Each Warden will supply the name of the PAIR representative to the Workers' Compensation Coordinator. (NOTE: The Warden must provide the name of the representative in written form when s/he is selected and annually thereafter during the month of January.)

1.2 A list of all PAIR representatives will be maintained by the Workers' Compensation Coordinator of the Safety Program Manager/designee in the Division of Compliance, Standards, and Inspections.

1.3 PAIR representatives will be responsible for offering peer support to those individuals who may be experiencing difficulties arising out of and/or in the course of employment as the result of an assault or other serious duty related event and for maintaining the confidentiality of such individuals.

1.4 Each new PAIR representative will be required to attend a training course for PAIR representatives offered annually and co-sponsored/coordinated by the Safety Program Manager/designee in the Division of Compliance, Standards, and Inspections in cooperation with the SCDC Training Academy. In addition, PAIR representatives will be required to attend any supplemental training as specified by the Safety Program Manager/designee the Division of Compliance, Standards, and Inspections.

1.5 The PAIR representative will coordinate functions with the institution/division Emergency Staff Services (ESS) managers.

2. REPORTING OF ASSAULT/TRAUMA RELATED INCIDENTS:

2.1 Each Warden will be responsible for ensuring that a designated PAIR representative receives prompt notification of any assault by providing the PAIR representative with a copy of the appropriate Management Information Note (MIN) pertaining to the assault. (At Central Office, this responsibility will rest with the Division Director of Human Resources/designee.)

2.2 The Workers' Compensation Coordinator will be responsible for monitoring MINs which provide information pertaining to employee assault/trauma and will routinely contact institutional PAIR representatives to ensure their receipt of MINs pertinent to their respective institutions. A record of this contact will be maintained by the Workers' Compensation Coordinator detailing the name of the PAIR representative contacted and the date and time of contact. If the PAIR representative is not aware of the event, this contact will prompt the PAIR representative to initiate personal contact with the employee.

2.3 The immediate supervisor of the employee(s) involved in the incident will be responsible for immediately providing information pertaining to the incident to the designated institutional/Central Office Environmental Health and Safety Officer (EHSO) or designee. The EHSO/designee will be responsible for completing the "Employer's First Report of Injury or Illness" in the automated system and for immediately submitting this report to the Workers' Compensation Coordinator. (NOTE: Proper completion and submission of this report is crucial, as it is the only report that can substantiate the incident should it subsequently lead to payment of any Workers' Compensation benefits.) The appropriate EHSO or designee will immediately notify the Warden and PAIR representative in these cases.

2.4 Ideally, MINs and the automated Employer's First Report of Injury or Illness forms should supplement one another. However, not all MINs are the subject of such reports and vice versa. In some cases of emotional trauma, for example, the event may be captured by neither a MIN or a First Report of Injury or Illness report. In these cases, the employee's supervisor should request a courtesy intervention session with the PAIR representative so that an assessment can be made. Questions should then be directed to the Workers' Compensation Coordinator for clarification of the need for an Employer's First Report of Injury or Illness form to be completed.

3. PAIR REPRESENTATIVE INTERVENTION:

3.1 The PAIR representative will be responsible for personally contacting the employee referenced in the MIN or First Report of Injury or Illness form as soon as practical after an assault or other serious duty-related event.

3.2 The PAIR representative will maintain notes of his/her attempts to contact the affected employee. When possible, contact with the affected employee should be in person; however, contact by telephone is acceptable, particularly if the employee has already left the work place. SCDC Form 16-112, "Post Assault Information Resource Contact Form," will be used by the PAIR representative to document his/her attempts (successful or otherwise) to contact the employee. A copy of this form will be forwarded to the Workers' Compensation Coordinator and the appropriate Warden or Division Director. Copies of this form will be maintained in secure files to ensure the confidentiality of the employee involved.

3.3 The confidentiality of PAIR representative support and intervention should be prominently emphasized to the affected employee to assure the individual that his/her personal remarks, observations, and experiences will not be known to the general public. The only exceptions to the confidentiality of the intervention will be in the following cases:

• when the affected employee consents to the release of information;

• when the affected employee expresses a clear intent to harm him/herself or others;

• when the safety and the security of the work place may be jeopardized as is evidenced from statements or actions made by the employee;

• when the PAIR representative is required to testify in a public or private hearing; or

• when information must be discussed further by the PAIR representative with either the Warden/Division Director and/or the Safety Program Manager/designee. In this case, the Warden/Division Director and/or the Safety Program Manager/designee will be required to maintain the confidentiality of the employee.

3.4 The PAIR representative will be responsible for establishing a rapport with the affected employee in order to assess whether the employee needs professional counseling. When professional services are deemed necessary or are requested by the employee, the PAIR representative will inform the appropriate Warden or Division Director and the Workers' Compensation Coordinator, who will coordinate with the State Accident Fund and the appropriate counseling resource. The PAIR representative or the Warden/Division Director should not engage any counseling resources directly, but should facilitate the employee's direction to appropriate resources, through the Workers' Compensation Coordinator.

3.5 The PAIR representative will ensure during the intervention that:

3.5.1 the automated First Report of Injury or Illness form has been completed; (The EHSO will ensure that the Report is completed and entered into the system.)

3.5.2 the employee has been advised of this policy/procedure;

3.5.3 the employee has been given general information about contacting Workers' Compensation and the EHSO;

3.5.4 the employee has been referred to the Workers' Compensation Coordinator for more definitive details regarding Workers' Compensation;

3.5.5 the employee has been provided information relative to his/her rights under the South Carolina Victim/Witness Bill of Rights;

3.5.6 upon the employee's request, s/he has been provided information relative to any action taken against an inmate as a result of the incident, i.e., disciplinary action, court prosecution, etc.; (NOTE: Whenever practical, the affected employee is to be encouraged to provide input as to his/her feelings regarding any action to be taken against the inmate(s), assailant(s), etc. Whenever the affected employee's preference for disciplinary and/or court action cannot be accommodated, the PAIR representative will provide the employee with an explanation of the factors influencing the final decision.)

4. DEFINITIONS:

Duty-Related Trauma/Critical Incident Stress refers to certain emotional consequences following a serious event arising out of and in the course of employment.

Emergency Staff Services (ESS) refers to a function of the Emergency Preparedness Plan which provides for staff welfare during and after a major emergency.

Post Assault Information Resource (PAIR) Representative refers to an SCDC employee trained to provide peer support and information to other employees who have experienced duty related trauma.

Trauma refers to an event which is outside the range of usual human experience or an event for which one usually cannot prepare and which will most likely have a profound effect upon the life of the person involved.

SIGNATURE ON FILE