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. 2022 Apr 1;64(4):e211-e216.
doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000002482. Epub 2022 Jan 11.

OSHA Workplace Violence Enforcement

Sheila Arbury  1 , Natasha R Collins, Janette Magtahas, Mikki Holmes, Michael J Hodgson
Affiliations

OSHA Workplace Violence Enforcement

Sheila Arbury et al. J Occup Environ Med. .

Abstract

Objective: To examine violence inspections at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Methods: The authors examined all inspections that involved violence against workers begun by January 1, 2019. They conducted semi-structured interviews with compliance officers who had conducted inspections on a sample of facilities that received General Duty Clause (GDC) citations (n = 22) or Hazard Alert Letters (HALs) (n = 22).

Results: By January 1, 2019, OSHA initiated 726 "violence" inspections, with 502 (69.1%) in healthcare. In healthcare, 45 (11.1%) resulted in GDC citations and 241 (67.7%) in HALs. GDC facilities received statistically significantly lower scores in 5 of 6 domains examined through semi-structured interviews than HAL facilities. Both groups of facilities had poorly designed recordkeeping systems.

Conclusions: Health care facilities continue to generate worker complaints with poorly designed violence prevention programs.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

References

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    1. Wyatt R, Anderson-Drevs K, Van Male LM. Workplace violence in health care: a critical issue with a promising solution. JAMA 2016; 316:1037–1038. doi: 10.1001/jama.2016.10384. PMID: 27429201. - DOI

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