Safer Bars - Research Annual Report 2005

Kate Graham:  Safer Bars program

The link between alcohol and violence has been recognized over time and across cultures. All too often, we hear about people being injured, killed or sexually assaulted in relation to licensed establishments.

Additionally, research has found that bars and clubs are high-risk locations for violence and aggression.

To address this problem, Dr. Kathryn Graham, Head of Social Factors and Prevention Initiatives, led a team to research and develop the Safer Bars program. The program was developed over five years, in consultation with police, lawyers, community health professionals, civic leaders and liquor licensing officials, as  well as bar owners and staff from over 20 licensed premises in towns and cities across Ontario.

The Safer Bars program includes a three-hour training for bar staff and management,  a booklet for bar owners and managers to address environmental risk factors for aggression and a pamphlet informing bar owners and staff of their legal responsibilities in preventing violence and injury. The training focuses on teamwork, communication and early intervention to prevent problems from escalating.  The booklet is a practical guide emphasizing realistic solutions to reducing risks.

In 2000, Dr. Graham received a grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health to conduct a large-scale, randomized-control evaluation of the Safer Bars program in Toronto. The results, published in 2004 as part of a special issue of Drug and Alcohol Review on preventing alcohol problems, showed that the program was effective in reducing physical violence in bars and clubs.

The evaluation also found that bar owners, managers and staff rated the program very highly. Their responses include the following:

• "Safer Bars should be mandatory for all staff," says one server. "It shows us not only to watch out for customers' safety but also our own."
• "Safer Bars training course is an excellent way for people in the bar industry to find out how, where and why to apply it," says one security member. "It is not all common knowledge."

Dr. Graham suggests, "While the program cannot eliminate all violence in licensed premises, it does demonstrate that it is possible to reduce such violence and decrease risk of injury."

The Safer Bars program has been used as the basis for similar programs in Norway and other countries, and several initiatives  are currently underway to implement Safer Bars across Canada, in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

"I think doing a course like this is great. It brings staff together to talk about different techniques, and it teaches us a lot about how to handle situations. There is really no course to take about how to work in a club. Most of us learn things through trial and error. By bringing us together and encouraging discussion to which research material is added, we bring all these years of  experience into one room, and as a result we can all benefit." - Bartender

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