Kathy Hughes, RN was given the closing quote in an article which appeared on the June 19th in Business Insurance(1).
“We want what we’re doing in California to be the template and the driving force behind, hopefully, getting something similar to this done nationally because I don’t think people realize the prevalence of workplace violence in health care,” Ms. Hughes said.
This quote echoes a central theme of the 2016 Legislative Conference in Sacramento “Nurses Leading the Way to Healthier Communities”. SEIU Nurse Alliance of California members can Click here, or check email to see the full article.
(1) Business Insurance is the authoritative news and information source for executives concerned about risk and the impact on their business.
Since 2012, the Nurse Alliance of California has lead the charge for the new Cal/OSHA standard to protect healthcare workers from workplace violence, which is expected to pass this summer. Attached is a background summary and related Government Accountability Office (GAO) report & fact sheet for your reference. Next month we will be hearing from Mark Catlin, Occupational Health and Safety Director for SEIU at the 2016 Legislative Conference in Sacramento on May 3rd & 4th. All three documents are linked below and downloadable in PDF format. The SEIU Nurse Alliance of California led the charge in California, with the support and cooperation of SEIU local unions and the SEIU State Council of California, by petitioning Cal/OSHA. Here are some helpful links for more information; Nurses should be especially intrigued by the compilation of quotes.
Congratulations to All SEIU Members!!
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Thank you to all of our members, especially the ones that have participated and shared their personal stories of workplace violence these past years. We are very grateful to all of our nurses and staff. Thursday’s event was very special because it was attended by both experienced and new nurse leaders.
We made history when Cal/OSHA Standard Board accepted our proposed language to start the formal Rulemaking process to create a comprehensive workplace violence prevention regulation covering all workers in the California healthcare industry.
Thank you, Kathy Hughes, Mark Catlin and Kimberly Rosenberger, who drafted last minute comments based on input made by employers at the hearing. Thank you, Jon Youngdahl, for your comments and holding down the forth inside. Last but not least, thank you Dr. Richard Pan, California State Senator from the 6th District, for testifying about your own experience of workplace violence during the press conference. We had great press coverage before the hearing where Kathy and Ingela were interviewed on live TV (please see links below).
We are very thankful to our CNA brothers and sisters for showing up to support us during the hearing.
At the conclusion of the meeting, SEIU members listened to the Standard Board comments which were mostly positive.
Here is the coverage by the various media outlets.
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Working Together
Federal OSHA unveils a new webpage which includes strategies and tools to help prevent workplace violence in healthcare settings. The new website complements previously published and updated guidelines (see OSHA’s Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Healthcare and Social Service Workers) and includes real-life examples of successful violence prevention programs. New strategies include management commitment; worker participation; worksite analysis; hazard identification, prevention, and control; safety and health training; record keeping; and program evaluation.
According to the article, healthcare incidents of serious workplace violence account for nearly as many serious violent injuries as all other industries combined – and most of these injuries are preventable. In an effort to combat these incidents, raise awareness, and help employers provide safe and healthful workplaces for their employees, OSHA’s webpage provides hospital administrators with information on risk factors, costs and actions to manage the problem.
Meanwhile, here in California, we (SEIU Nurse Alliance of California and SEIU 121RN) are beginning the formal Rulemaking process with Cal/OSHA to create a comprehensive workplace violence prevention regulation covering all workers in the California healthcare industry (see post: Violence & Intimidation is not Part of the Job).
Mark Catlin, Health and Safety Director for SEIU IU, has been instrumental in helping SEIU Nurse Alliance of California and SEIU 121RN create language for the written standards.
