• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

OSHA updates workplace violence rule

Hospital Safety Insider, June 18, 2015

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Hospital Safety Insider!

OSHA in April released an update to its Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Health Care and Social Service Workers, known to many in the safety field as OSHA Rule 3148.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2013 more than 23,000 significant injuries were caused due to assaults at work. More than 70% of these assaults were in healthcare and social service settings. Healthcare and social service workers are almost four times more likely to be injured as a result of violence than the average private sector worker, OSHA says. Further statistics show that about 30% of the fatalities in healthcare and social service settings occurring in 2013 were due to assaults and violent acts. As a result, OSHA issued the update to OSHA 3148, encouraging healthcare workplaces to develop a workplace violence prevention plan.

While the updated rule was quietly released by OSHA, healthcare safety experts say it was only a matter of time before the agency responded to the increased rate of workplace violence. According to some safety experts, The Joint Commission is giving serious consideration to incorporating the new OSHA rule into its survey recommendations, but nothing official is expected any time soon.

This is an excerpt from an article in Briefings on Hospital Safety. Visit here to log in or subscribe.

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Hospital Safety Insider!

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive