OSHA to Improve Standards on Workplace Violence

Each year, hundreds of workers lose their lives and thousands more are injured as a result of workplace violence. Unfortunately, nearly every industry is affected by workplace violence to some degree. While some industries have a higher risk than others, the fact remains that violence is a potential in all workplaces. In an effort to curb these numbers, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed a new standard.

OSHA recently included a newly proposed standard on workplace violence in its regulatory agenda, which was published just last month in May. Reports indicate that OSHA is also preparing to issue a request for data associated with workplace violence from healthcare employers, healthcare workers, and experts on the subject matter. 

So, why is OSHA seeking workplace violence data from healthcare employers? The answer is simple: because healthcare workers have a higher risk of becoming a victim of workplace violence than workers in other industries. With that said, federal officials say the problem of workplace violence is still largely unknown. This is because many incidents go unreported, with either the victim not reporting the violence act, or the employer failing to report the violence act to OSHA. The Government Accountability Office reiterated this information in a March report, saying it needs more data on workplace violence to better protect workers from such incidents.

Back in 2014, the nonprofit health firm Ascension Health launched its own process for identifying and evaluating the risk of workplace violence. Instead of waiting for OSHA, it decided to take matters into its own hands. Ascension Health eventually increased the number of workplace violence inspections it conducted on healthcare employers from just 11 in 2010 to 86 in 2014. Furthermore, it issued a duty citation clause in some 5% of workplace violence cases. As a result of these changes, Ascension Health petitioned OSHA to improve its own standard for workplace violence.

“It will be most effective for us to just focus first on health care and social services rather than doing it much more widely, so that's where we're going to start,” said David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, while speaking earlier last month.

Do you think OSHA needs to do more to protect against workplace violence?