USA

In the USA, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) is the main federal agency that is tasked with the enforcement of safety and health legislation. Occupational deaths were recorded to be at a record low in 2008 with 5488 fatal work injuries - a figure down from 6217 in 1992. 40% of these fatalities involve transportation - listing Truck Drivers and Sales-people consistently within the top 10 most dangerous jobs. One area of accidental death or injury on the increase is through slips, trips and falls. Fatalities attributed to the former were listed at a record high of 835 in 2007, a 35% increase since 1992.

Whilst figures show accidental deaths are decreasing, worryingly workplace homicides (murder) increased by 13% in 2008. This is further supported by Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing there were 421 workplace shootings in the US in 2008 - of which nearly 25% were in the retail trade.

Occupational Injuries:

In 2007 The Milbank Quarterly released a study on 'The Economic Burden of Occupational Injury and Illness in the United States'. Click to download:

Workplace violence and resultant factors:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, Survey of Workplace Violence, 2005 outlined that almost 5% of private industry establishments experienced an incident of workplace violence in the same year. Whilst 33% of those organisations reported a negative impact on employees only 11% subsequently changed their policy. The below chart shows how violent incident(s) can impact negatively on staff, all which affect the productivity of an organisation:

2011 OSHA Directive:

In September 2011 OSHA issued a directive on how employers should conduct inspections and investigations into allegations of violence, or violence in the workplace. The directive, CPL 02-01-052 Enforcement Procedures of Investigating or Inspecting Workplace Violence Incidents, is the first directive of its kind and states two main reasons for use:

1) An inspection "shall be considered where there is a complaint, referral, or fatality and/or catastrophic event" involving a violent act at the business.

2) A programmed inspection shall be considered when an employer is part of an industry with a recognized potential for workplace violence.

An inspection "generally shall not be considered in response to coworker or personal threats of violence," the directive advises.

Workplace Violence Third Leading Cause of Fatalities.

Assaults and homicide were the third leading cause of on-the-job fatalities in 2010 and have been among the top four causes since at least 1992, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show. In 2010, only traffic accidents and falls resulted in more workplace deaths.

Homicides led to 506 on-the-job deaths in 2010, 11 percent of the of the 4,547 workplace fatalities. However for women, violence was the greatest workplace threat, responsible for 26 percent of the 355 deaths. For men, it was 10 percent.

OSHA officials announced in September 2010 that the agency was preparing a workplace violence directive (40 OSHR 762, 9/16/10).

In a Sept. 8 statement, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health David Michaels noted that a recent inspection of a psychiatric hospital uncovered more than 90 incidents in which employees were assaulted by patients from 2008 through 2010 and that this year OSHA cited medical facilities Massachusetts and New York for the deaths or workers.

"These incidents and others like them can be avoided or decreased if employers take appropriate precautions to protect their workers," Michaels said.

High-Risk Employers.

Several types of businesses and work environments are labeled by the directive as "high risk." They include:

•Psychiatric facilities.
•Convenience stores open late at night.
•Hospital emergency departments.
•Liquor stores open in the late night.
•Community mental health facilities.
•Drug abuse treatment clinics.
•Pharmacies.
•Residential and long-term health care facilities.
•Any store opened late in the night with a single worker.

Source: BNA

 Visit Connexion2 at ISC West in 2012:

Conference 27th - 29th March 2012 Exhibition 28th - 30th March 2012 Booth 16138, Public Security & Safety Section, Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Las Vegas, NV, USA Contact Rob Harris for more information.

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