The United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has

recently published updates to its Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Healthcare

and Social Service Workers. To help in protecting healthcare workers from workplace violence,

and as a follow up to this update, OSHA recently released a new webpage which will be a part of

the Worker Safety in Hospitals website. This webpage will have new strategies and tools for

preventing workplace violence specifically in healthcare settings.

“Too many healthcare workers face threats and physical violence on the job while caring for our

loved ones,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David

Michaels. “It is not right that these valuable workers continue to be injured and sometimes killed

on the job. Most of these injuries are preventable and OSHA is providing these resources to help

combat these incidents and raise awareness that violence does not need to be part of the job.”

The new strategies and tools focus on workplace violence prevention programs. This includes

things such as management commitment and worker participation, worksite analysis and hazard

identification, hazard prevention and control, safety and health training, and recordkeeping and

program evaluation. These tools and resources should help to protect healthcare workers from

workplace violence, and as the leading industry in the area of workplace violence, it is

imperative that healthcare facilities incorporate these guidelines and utilize these tools to avoid

OSHA citations.

If you have any questions about how this new tool might impact your business, please contact us.

If you have anything to add about the new website, please leave a comment.