[caption id="attachment_4093" align="alignright" width="300"]121RN members and staff at the first Cal/OSHA Advisory Meeting addressing workplace violence in healthcare settings.[/caption]

The first Cal/OSHA Workplace Violence in Healthcare Advisory Meeting was held Wednesday, September 10th in Oakland to begin the process of hammering out what will possibly be the country’s first-ever comprehensive workplace violence prevention standard covering all healthcare workers.

More than 70 people – including healthcare workers, union activists, workplace health and safety advocates, and employer representatives – spoke to various parts of the agenda throughout the five hour-long public meeting. We were especially pleased to have with us from SEIU Local 121RN Vice President Jeannie King, RN (Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center), Executive Board member Dennis King, Bridget Ehemenoniye, RN (Pacifica Hospital of the Valley), union organizer/representative Cory Cordova (College Hospital Cerritos), and field director Rosanna Mendez.

After a short discussion about the rule-making process and background, Dr. Jane Lipscomb – a recognized subject matter expert on workplace violence in the healthcare industry – provided an overview of the hazard of workplace violence in the healthcare industry calling on her own and other scholars’ extensive and decades-long research on the subject. The problem of workplace violence in the healthcare industry is huge, said Dr. Lipscomb, despite twenty years of knowing about it. Evidence shows, however, that facilities that have strong workplace violence prevention programs experience reduced assaults on staff.

There was broad support for using OSHA’s definition of workplace violence, which states that workplace violence is “any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the worksite.”

Healthcare workers spoke to the need for the standard to cover all healthcare workers employed directly or indirectly by public and private facilities, service categories, or operations, regardless of location, stressing that workplace violence doesn’t know any boundaries in the healthcare industry, either in terms of where the violence occurs or who the victim is. As one person summed it up, “If some people aren’t free of workplace violence, then no one is free of it.”

During the discussion about what components should be included in an effective workplace violence prevention program, people stressed the need for site-specific hazard assessments and the critical importance of post-incident debriefing and aftercare, among other things.

This was an incredibly positive meeting, in large part because of all of the healthcare workers from around California – including our own members and staff – who came and spoke up about what they need to be safe at their various worksites. We’ll be posting more information about the next meeting soon here and on the California Safe Care Standard campaign website.