The training is part of the health group's take up of a "code grey" response mechanism to deal with such incidents.

Under the code grey response, health staff are taught how best to deal with aggression from unarmed people.

Hospital emergency response team members are being taught self defence and breakaway techniques as well as how best to restrain aggressors. 

Staff are also taught how to defuse and de-escalate such situations.

Code Grey project worker Merrilyn Bergbauer said health workers were at higher risk of assault now than ever before.

"There has been recognition right across the world that aggression in health is going up," she said.

Ms Bergbauer said a 2011 state government inquiry into violence and security arrangements in Victorian hospitals identified a number of ways in which health sites could be made safer for both staff and patients.

 She said the escalation of violence was due to a number of factors.

"There's no simple answer," she said. 

"There are a lot of reasons; some are related to illicit drug use, some are related to society's perceptions of health care workers.

"Health care workers used to be revered but people's perceptions have changed."

The code grey response will complement the existing code black response, which is implemented when health staff are confronted with an armed person or other serious threat to safety.

The training at Bendigo Health is part of a statewide rollout of the code grey system.

A hospital spokesperson said the rollout would result in a consistency of response across the state.