[caption id="attachment_5832" align="alignleft" width="570"]SEIU nurses and healthcare workers outside the California Occupational Safety and Health Standard Board meeting in Oakland on Oct. 20, 2016.[/caption]

On Thursday, Oct. 20, the final Cal/OSHA Workplace Violence Prevention Standard was unanimously adopted at the California Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Standards Board meeting in Oakland. In 2013, California healthcare workers, led by SEIU Local 121RN and the SEIU Nurse Alliance of California, petitioned Cal/OSHA and the OSH Standards Board for a Workplace Violence Prevention Standard for Healthcare Workers. It covers a broad range of facilities from general acute care, to acute psych, to long-term care facilities. This is the most comprehensive, enforceable workplace violence prevention standard in the nation. For details on what this standard will enforce, visit http://safecarestandard.org/.

The standard will now go through the Department of Finance (DOF) before it can go on to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL). While we do not have a definitive date for adoption of the Standard, we are hoping for early next year.

Congratulations, nurses! Our hard work has paid off.

[caption id="attachment_5830" align="alignnone" width="200"] Local 121RN Member Lorraine Myrick, (middle) RN at Riverside Community Hospital, prior to the OSH Standards Board meeting Oct. 20.[/caption]