Showing posts with label workplace violence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label workplace violence. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
California's WVPP Legislation: A Potential Benefit for Workers and Industry?
California's Senate Bill 553 (SB 553), which mandates a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (WVPP) for most employers by July 1, 2024, has a primary focus on employee safety. However, it might also have a secondary benefit – reduced workers' compensation insurance costs.
Sunday, July 24, 2022
Federal Joint Study on Workplace Violence Released
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) released Indicators of Workplace Violence, 2019, which provides findings on fatal and nonfatal crimes that occurred in the workplace or away from work but over work-related issues. Findings are presented for 13 indicators of workplace violence, using data from five federal data collections.
Wednesday, July 6, 2022
New Laws in NJ Are a Step to Reduce Gun Violence in the Workplace
Gun violence in the workplace continues to be a significant occupational hazard. Whether it occurs on the work premises or carriers over to an off-premises location, gun violence remains a continuing risk associated with a job,
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
When active shooter drills lead to workplace injuries
Today's guest author is Jon Rehm, Esquire of the Nebraska Bar.
The United States has one of the highest rates of gun violence in the developed world. Unfortunately the workplace is no sanctuary from this violence.
The United States has one of the highest rates of gun violence in the developed world. Unfortunately the workplace is no sanctuary from this violence.
Saturday, March 23, 2019
Employer Held Liable for Failure to Protect an Employee from Fatal Workplace Violence
The US Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) has upheld safety violations against an employer for the death of an employee caused by workplace violence. The employee died from nine stab wounds received on the front lawn of a patient’s home following a home visit in December 2012.
Friday, February 22, 2019
Legislation to Reduce Violence in Workplace
Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), a senior Member of the House Education and Labor Committee, introduced legislation this week to curb rising rates of workplace violence facing health care and social service employees such as nurses, physicians, emergency responders, medical assistants, and social workers.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Wal-Mart worker: Fired for helping assaulted woman
HARTLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- A Michigan man says he was fired from his job at Wal-Mart after he tried to help a woman being assaulted in the parking lot of one of the retail giant's stores and ended up fighting with her attacker.
Kristopher Oswald told WXYZ-TV in Detroit (http://bit.ly/18qGyBh ) that Wal-Mart has policies against workplace violence to prevent employees from assaulting co-workers or tackling a shoplifter, but that it appears that nothing allows for them to assist in situations of imminent danger and self-defense. A spokeswoman for Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. told The Associated Press on Thursday that while the company understood Oswald's intentions, his actions violated company policy. "We had to make a tough decision, one that we don't take lightly, and he's no longer with the company," company spokeswoman Ashley Hardie said. Oswald, 30, said he was in his car on his break about 2:30 a.m. Sunday when he saw a man grabbing a woman. He said he asked her if she needed help and the man started punching him in the head and yelling that he was going to kill him. Oswald said he was able to get on top of the man, but then two other men jumped him from behind. Livingston County sheriff's deputies arrived and halted the fight. Oswald said the Hartland Township store's management gave him paperwork saying that "after a violation of company policy on his lunch break, it was determined to end his temporary assignment." Oswald had worked for Wal-Mart for... |
Friday, September 27, 2013
OCCUPATIONAL VIOLENCE
 The magnitude of workplace violence in the United States is measured with fatal and nonfatal statistics from several sources. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) reported 13,827 workplace homicide victims between 1992 and 2010. Averaging over 700 homicides per year, the largest number of homicides in one year (n=1080) occurred in 1994, while the lowest number (n=518) occurred in 2010. From 2003 to 2010 over half of the workplace homicides occurred within three occupation classifications: sales and related occupations (28%), protective service occupations (17%), and transportation and material moving occupations (13%). The Bureau of Labor Statistics Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) reported an estimated 130,290 nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses involving days away from work during the 2003 to 2010 time period. The Healthcare and Social Assistance Industry accounted for 63% of these injuries and illnesses each year. Data collected by the Consumer Product Safety Commissions’ National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) that is collected in collaboration with NIOSH (NEISS-Work Supplement) estimated more than 137,000 workers were treated in emergency departments for nonfatal assaults in 2009. The Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) estimated the number of nonfatal violent crimes occurring against persons 16 or older while they were at... |
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Seattle Shooting - Another Case of Workplace Gun Violence, and Another Call to Action
By working together we can bring an end to gun violence in America
Today's post comes from guest author Kit Case from Causey Law Firm, Seattle, Washington.
A man entered a Seattle bar late Sunday night, January 27, 2013, and confronted his ex-girlfriend, brandishing a gun. The gunman shot both his ex-girlfriend and the doorman before the gunman was fatally shot by Seattle police. Both the ex-girlfriend and the doorman were taken to Harborview Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Both were victims of senseless gun violence, but the doorman is also a workers’ compensation claimant due to this occurring while he was on-the-job.
2012 has been the worst year for these events in modern US history, with 151 victims injured and killed.
Quoting an article published by Mother Jones (Mother Jones Investigates: The NRA Myth of Arming the Good Guys), Washington CeaseFire shared that there have been at least 62 mass shootings in the last three decades, attacks in which the killer took the lives of four or more people (the FBI's baseline for mass murder) in a public place—a school, a workplace, a mall, a religious building. Seven of them have occurred this year alone. Along with three other similar though less lethal rampages—at a Portland shopping mall, a Milwaukee spa, and a Cleveland high school—2012 has been the worst year for these events in modern US history, with 151 victims injured and killed.
On Tuesday, January 22nd, Washington CeaseFire presented the results of a statewide poll conducted by Alison Peters Consulting. The poll of 600 randomly selected registered Washington voters reveals a strong preference for stronger gun safety laws on both Eastern and Western sides of the state. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. Findings included :
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
OSHA Cites Correctional Facility for Exposing Employees to Workplace Violence
Mississippi correctional facility cited by US Department of Labor's OSHA for
workplace violence and other hazards; more than $104,000 in fines proposed
workplace violence and other hazards; more than $104,000 in fines proposed
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited The GEO Group Inc. with six safety and health violations, including one willful, for exposing employees to workplace violence and failing to take adequate measures to reduce the risk of violence following a December 2011 inspection stemming from a complaint about the Meridian correctional facility. Proposed penalties total $104,100.
"This employer knowingly put workers at risk of injury or death by failing to implement well-recognized measures that would protect employees from physical assaults by inmates," said Clyde Payne, OSHA's area director in Jackson. "Prisons may be inherently dangerous workplaces, but the employer is still required to take every reasonable precaution to protect corrections officers and other staff against safety and health hazards, including assaults."
A willful safety violation has been cited, with a $70,000 penalty, for failing to knowingly provide adequate staffing, fix malfunctioning cell door locks or provide required training to protect employees from incidents of violent behavior by inmates, including stabbings, bites and other injuries. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.
One repeat health violation, with a $16,500 penalty, also has been cited for failing to conduct medical evaluations for workers required to wear respirators. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. A similar violation was cited in November 2010 at GEO's Pompano Beach, Fla., facility.
Two serious health and one serious safety violation, carrying a total of $17,600 in penalties, include failure to conduct a fit test for employees required to wear respirators, have a written exposure control plan for employees exposed to bloodborne pathogens and complete a personal protective equipment hazard assessment. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
One other-than-serious safety violation has been cited for failing to provide a written energy control procedure for workers exposed to electrical shock hazards. No penalty was assessed. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.
The GEO Group Inc. is a correctional and detention organization with approximately 80,000 beds and 116 facilities located in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa. The company's East Mississippi correctional facility houses 1,318 low, medium and high security inmates, as well as inmates with mental illness.
Information on workplace violence is available at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/workplaceviolence/index.html.
The citations can be viewed at
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/The_GEO_Group_Inc_315306803_06_11_2012.pdf*,
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/The_GEO_Group_Inc_315306357_06_11_2012.pdf*.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Jackson office at 601-965-4606.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.
"This employer knowingly put workers at risk of injury or death by failing to implement well-recognized measures that would protect employees from physical assaults by inmates," said Clyde Payne, OSHA's area director in Jackson. "Prisons may be inherently dangerous workplaces, but the employer is still required to take every reasonable precaution to protect corrections officers and other staff against safety and health hazards, including assaults."
A willful safety violation has been cited, with a $70,000 penalty, for failing to knowingly provide adequate staffing, fix malfunctioning cell door locks or provide required training to protect employees from incidents of violent behavior by inmates, including stabbings, bites and other injuries. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.
One repeat health violation, with a $16,500 penalty, also has been cited for failing to conduct medical evaluations for workers required to wear respirators. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. A similar violation was cited in November 2010 at GEO's Pompano Beach, Fla., facility.
Two serious health and one serious safety violation, carrying a total of $17,600 in penalties, include failure to conduct a fit test for employees required to wear respirators, have a written exposure control plan for employees exposed to bloodborne pathogens and complete a personal protective equipment hazard assessment. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
One other-than-serious safety violation has been cited for failing to provide a written energy control procedure for workers exposed to electrical shock hazards. No penalty was assessed. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.
The GEO Group Inc. is a correctional and detention organization with approximately 80,000 beds and 116 facilities located in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa. The company's East Mississippi correctional facility houses 1,318 low, medium and high security inmates, as well as inmates with mental illness.
Information on workplace violence is available at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/workplaceviolence/index.html.
The citations can be viewed at
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/The_GEO_Group_Inc_315306803_06_11_2012.pdf*,
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/The_GEO_Group_Inc_315306357_06_11_2012.pdf*.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Jackson office at 601-965-4606.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Workplace Violence: Workers Compensation Judge Removed For Taking a Gun To Work
I once walked into a workers' compensation court and the Judge was using a 3 foot sledge hammer as a gavel. How far a field one can go before crossing the line of what is appropriate conduct for a judge was the subject of a recent court decision.
A Court in Pennsylvania has ruled that it is unlawful for a workers' compensation judge to bring a gun to work. The judge was removed from office and terminated.
Click here to read: Peter E. Perry v. State Civil Service Commission, No. 2751 C.D. 2010 (PA 2011)
"....the Commission credited L&I‟s evidence regarding the existence of its policies concerning weapons in the workplace and Perry‟s 14 violations of those policies. The Commission‟s supported findings reveal the following. L&I issued its employees a Weapons Policy Statement, which specifically prohibited the possession of weapons, including, among other things, all forms of firearms, “while in or on property owned or leased by [L&I].” F.F. No. 9; R.R. at 134a. The policy specifies that violations “may lead to disciplinary action up to and including termination from employment.” R.R. at 134a. Perry received this policy. F.F. No. 10; R.R. at 136a-37a. Perry also received a copy of Management Directive 205.33 relating to workplace violence, issued by the Governor‟s Office, Secretary of Administration, which applied to all agencies under the Governor's jurisdiction. R.R. at 125a-32a, R.R. at 136a-37a."
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