Recently an employer in the medical service industry was fined $98,000 for failing to protect its employees from workplace violence. The OSHA investigation determined the employer had received numerous reports of verbal, physical and sexual assaults on employees, as well as a report of an employee forced to work in a house in which domestic violence occurred. In addition, OSHA concluded that the employer had no system for reporting threats or incidents of violence in the workplace. For these reasons, OSHA cited the employer for one willful violation for failing to maintain a safe workplace under OSHA’s General Duty Clause. A willful violation is defined by OSHA as a violation in which the employer either knowingly failed to comply with the legal requirement, purposefully disregarded the requirement or acted with indifference to employee safety. OSHA also cited the employer for a records violation.
Source: Industry News
