OVA Training – New Zealand
What is Occupational Violence & Aggression Training in New Zealnd (OVA Training)?
Occupational Violence and Aggression (OVA) is the term used for the abuse, threats and assaults a worker may experience at work — recognised by WorkSafe New Zealand as a workplace hazard that employers have a duty to manage. De-escalation is the specific communication skill used to prevent an OVA incident from becoming physical.
This page focuses on OVA as the broader hazard your organisation needs to address; our De-escalation Training page covers the specific verbal and behavioural techniques your staff use in the moment. Resolution Education is a New Zealand specialist OVA provider, and our OVA Training is built around the A.D.P. Framework and tailored to your organisation’s specific risks, policies and workforce.
What OVA Training Do We Offer?
OVA covers more ground than most people expect. It’s not limited to physical assault — it includes verbal abuse, threats, intimidation and harassment, whether the source is a customer, client, patient, or a colleague. Managing this risk is a genuine workplace health and safety obligation, not just good practice.
Resolution Education’s OVA Training is built to help your organisation meet that obligation properly: identifying where OVA risk exists in your workplace, understanding your duty of care, and equipping staff with the practical skills — de-escalation among them — to recognise, prevent and safely respond to it.
Our OVA training goes beyond a single technique. Participants learn to recognise the early indicators of an escalating situation, understand the legal and organisational context they’re operating in, and apply the right response — verbal, procedural or physical — depending on how a situation develops.
Who Will Benefit From OVA Training?
OVA training is relevant to any organisation with a duty to manage workplace hazards — which, in practice, means almost every workplace with public contact or team-based operations. This includes customer service staff such as retail or hospitality workers, staff in hospitals like nurses, teachers, assistants and parents in educational institutions, security personnel across industries, and more.
Because OVA is a recognised workplace hazard, this training is also valuable for HR, health and safety officers and managers responsible for demonstrating that their organisation has taken reasonable steps to identify and control the risk — not just for frontline staff.
With a proven track record of training personnel at all levels within various organisations, we understand that OVA risk looks different depending on your sector. That’s why our training is based on our A.D.P. Framework and customised to your organisation’s specific risks, policies and workforce.
Whether you need to address a specific incident pattern, respond to an internal review, or simply build a stronger safety culture, our OVA Training can provide your organisation with both the practical skills and the safety foundation to succeed. Contact us today to discuss your specific training needs.
Course Overview
Duration:
Delivery:
Location:
Capacity:
What To Wear:
Training Outcomes
- Recognise the signs of somebody becoming agitated
- Increase your situational awareness and preparation
- Increase your ability to evaluate a situation to make more informed and appropriate decisions regarding your safety and required next steps
- Develop your confidence in using appropriate de-escalation skills and techniques to handle a situation safely either in the workplace, on the phone or when working remotely
- Control your emotions during an escalating situation
- Use your voice and tone appropriately to help resolve an issue
- Be able to deal with people who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol
- Be able to communicate with people with a mental illness
- Learn, through practice, various techniques related to freeing yourself from an aggressor
This occupational violence and aggression training provides a safe environment to discuss various situations, which increases both the understanding of the material presented and confidence in the ability to deal with unexpected conflict and difficult people.
You will learn tools like:
- Active, calm listening and body language
- Empathising with the aggressor to not provoke further emotional response
- Offering choices other than violence so the aggressor can move towards a solution
- Keeping yourself safe from violence while dealing with the aggressor
- Be able to communicate with people with a mental illness
- Learn, through practice, various techniques related to freeing yourself from an aggressor
Course Outline
All course outlines are based on the proven A.D.P. Framework and are customised through consultations with you prior to the day of training. This ensures that the needs of the group and individuals participating in the training are addressed, as their safety and increased confidence in dealing with difficult situations is our priority.
The workplace violence and aggression training is divided into three modules AWARENESS, DE-ESCALATION and PROTECTION, each of which deals with important key aspects that are vital in combatting incidences of violent behaviour in the workplace (or when working remotely).
A more detailed OVA Training course outline can be provided by contacting us directly.
You Will Receive
- An excellent course of fun and interactive training including role-playing.
- Real-life skills including greater confidence, self-awareness, conflict resolution management and self-defence.
Customise Your Training Now
To enrol or find out more information please call 0800 895 201 or click the button below.
Our Training & Services
Contact Us
Ground Floor, 26A Hobson Street,
Auckland Central, Auckland 1010