Lawmakers Seek OSHA Standard on Workplace Violence Prevention in Healthcare
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and 12 other House Democrats have introduced legislation intended to curb workplace violence in health care facilities.
The Health Care Workplace Violence Prevention Act, introduced March 8, would
mandate that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
develop a national standard on workplace violence prevention that would require
health care facilities to develop and implement facility and unit-specific
workplace violence prevention plans.
According
to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, at
least 58 hospital workers died as a result of workplace violence between 2011
and 2016. In 2016, the Government Accountability Office found that health care
workers were five to 12 times more likely to encounter nonfatal workplace
violence than all other workers.
The
legislation follows regulation enacted in 2014 in California, which went into
effect in 2017, directing Cal/OSHA to craft a workplace violence prevention
standard. The law requires all covered health care employers in California to
develop and issue – by April 1 – plans to prevent workplace violence and ensure
the safety of patients and workers.
The
bill introduced by Khanna is similar: Workplaces would create and implement
comprehensive violence prevention plans with input from doctors, nurses and
custodial workers. The bill stresses prevention, training and worker
participation. It defines workplace violence broadly to include not only
physical acts of violence, but threats of violence. It emphasizes staffing as a
crucial ingredient in preventing violence from occurring and responding quickly
when it does.
“Health
care workers, doctors and nurses are continuously at risk of workplace violence
incidents – strangling, punching, kicking and other physical attacks – that can
cause severe injury or death,” Khanna said in a March 8 press release. “This is
simply unacceptable. The Health Care Workplace Violence Prevention Act puts a
comprehensive plan in place and is a national solution to this widespread
problem modeled after the success seen in California.”
See the Cal/OSHA regulation for details of the standard and what might be expected in the adoption of a National OSHA regulation.
“Right
now, health care facilities are not doing enough to prevent these violent
incidents,” NNU Co-President Deborah Burger said in a press release. “Under the
proposed federal standard, facilities would need to assess and correct for
environmental risk factors, patient specific risk factors, staffing and
security system sufficiency.”
“There
are a number of interventions that can reduce violence in healthcare. For
example, affixing furniture and lighting so they can’t be used as weapons,
maintaining clear lines of sight between workers while they are caring for
patients, and providing easy access to panic buttons or phones to call for
help,” Burger explained. “It is imperative that nurses, doctors, and other
health care workers, along with security staff and custodial personnel, are all
involved in the development and implementation of these plans.”
Sources: https://www.hcsiinc.com, https://www.dir.ca.gov, , http://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com, https://www.securitymagazine.com,
https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/workplace-violence-prevention-in-healthcare.html, https://oshareview.com
https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/workplace-violence-prevention-in-healthcare.html, https://oshareview.com
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