WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION-ARE YOU READY? What you can do to help protect your staff and residents from injury and prevent a costly OSHA inspection. The Case for Workplace Violence Training A. 18,000 weekly workplace assaults cause 500,000 employees to lose 1,751,000 days of work annually, with a loss of $55 million in wages (3.5 days per incident); B. 18% of all crimes committed occur in the workplace; C. Workplace violence costs employers $3 to $5 billion annually; D. Indirect costs such as lost productivity, insurance, loss of public image bring the total to between $6.4 and $36 billion; E. Jury awards in workplace violence cases typically run in the millions of dollars; F. Workplace violence is the number one cause of workplace fatalities for women. What is Workplace Violence? Armed acts of violence (stabbings, shootings, beatings, etc.) Armed threats (bringing weapons to the workplace, armed robbery) Physical assaults or violent acts (striking, pushing, slapping, beatings, rapes, suicides/suicide attempts, etc.) Verbal assaults or threats (threatening or obscene phone calls, verbal intimidation, yelling, cursing, verbal harassment, threats of bodily harm, etc.) Disorderly Conduct of a serious nature (throwing objects, punching walls, slamming doors, breaking glass, etc.) Transportation incidents (road rage type accidents, stalking, following, etc.) 1
Where does it come from? Combative residents or patients or their families. Strangers. Co-workers/staff. Personal contacts of co-workers/staff. Why is OSHA Involved? The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has determined that health care and social service workers are at high risk for workplace violence, with an injury rate from such instances over 12 times that of other workers. What can trigger an OSHA inspection for Workplace Violence? During a programmed inspection under the NEP for Nursing Homes & Residential Care (CPL-02-00-016). Death, multiple injuries or catastrophic event. Complaints from staff (CPL-02-01-052). 2
What do I need to do? Establish a program such as the one described in this presentation: use our written Workplace Violence Prevention Plan. Involve employees. Take appropriate action. What are the OSHA Requirements? Perform threat, hazard and security assessments. Get input from staff (Employee Involvement). Apply control and prevention. Train and educate staff. Establish an incident reporting system. Investigate incidents and use corrective action. Recordkeeping. The WPVP Program: Plan Elements Establish a Threat Assessment Team. Survey the employees. Perform a Hazard and a Workplace Security Assessment. Implement and document control and prevention procedures. Train & Educate Employees. Report, document & investigate incidents. 3
The Threat Assessment Team (TAT) Assess the vulnerability of the facility to workplace violence. Reach agreement and recommend preventive actions to be taken. Help develop training programs. Conduct and supervise employee surveys. Perform inspections. Admin & Safety Team at Reliance facilities. Employee Workplace Survey Use a survey form. Employees fill out the form. TAT reviews the forms & identifies the issues. Recommend corrective actions to Administrator. Some Key Questions in the Workplace Survey Do you work alone? If so, is someone notified when you finish? Are there written policies on handling combative residents? Reporting incidents? Security inside and on parking lot? Have you been threatened or harassed? Have you been assaulted? Where is an incident most likely to occur? 4
Hazard Assessments TAT reviews records for current past 5 years. Includes OSHA 300 logs, incident reports, workers comp files, etc. TAT identifies any issues. TAT recommends corrective actions to Administrator. Security Assessment TAT performs workplace inspection using forms. Reviews work tasks and conditions. TAT identifies any issues. TAT recommends corrective actions to Administrator. Some Key Questions in the Security Assessment Do some employees work alone? If so, is someone notified when they finish? Are there combative residents? Does staff know how to deal with it? What are the security measures inside and on parking lot? Have staff been threatened or harassed by co-workers or family members? How available are drugs in the workplace? Where is an incident most likely to occur? Is staff training adequate? 5
Hazard Control & Prevention Recommendations to Administrator from the surveys and assessment. Document measures taken and when. Develop policies and procedures. Training & Education Definition of workplace violence. Full explanation and full description of our program (all employees are given a copy of this program at orientation). Instructions on how to report all incidents including threats and verbal abuse. Methods of recognizing and responding to workplace security hazards. Training on how to identify potential workplace security hazards (such as no lights in parking lot while leaving late at night, unknown person loitering outside the building, etc.). Training & Education Review of measures that have been instituted to prevent workplace violence including: use of security equipment and facility lockdown procedures. How to attempt to diffuse hostile or threatening situations. How to summon assistance in case of an emergency or hostage situation. Post-incident procedures, including medical follow-up and the availability of counseling and referral. 6
Incident Reporting & Investigation All incidents must be reported within 24 hours A "Workplace Violence Report" should be completed for all incidents. Each incident should be evaluated by the Threat Assessment Team. TAT will make recommendations on how to revise the program to prevent similar incidents from occurring. Recordkeeping Record of all workplace violence incidents. Any injury which requires more than first aid, is a lost-time injury, requires modified duty, or causes loss of consciousness, will be recorded on the OSHA 300 log. Minutes of the Threat Assessment Team meetings. Training records. Resources The ASIT Website has two webinar videos: Combative Behavior and Workplace Violence OSHA Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Health Care & Social Service Workers (pdf file.) Available at www.osha.gov OSHA Outreach Programs. Local law enforcement. 7
Darrell G. Toenjes Healthcare Practice Leader Midwest Employers Casualty Company Phone: 636-449-7274 dtoenjes@mwecc.com Jack McDaniel Safety/Loss Control Specialist Mike Johnson & Associates Phone: 479-619-8045 mtecsafety@cox.net 8