The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has reported that a children’s hospital in the Bronx failed to protect workers from being assaulted.
DOL reported that an employee informed OSHA that Montefiore Medical Center's pediatric emergency department was found not to have adequate workplace violence safeguards for employees, according to a news release.
OSHA Area Director Robert T. Garvey in Tarrytown, New York said that the health care center continually disregarded situations of physical assault that left its employees at risk.
“This employer ignored repeated episodes of physical assault that put their employees at risk,” Garvey said. “Employers can and must reduce workplace violence hazards by implementing and maintaining an effective workplace violence prevention program, which is an essential safeguard for these essential workers.”
The DOL reported that Montefiore Medical Center is an academic medical center that is the main teaching hospital of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
According to a news release, the hospital is looking at a fine of $13,653 for one serious violation under the general duty clause.
OSHA has extensive regulations for safeguarding employees from workplace violence in the health care and social service industry and has stated that employees in this sector face significant risks of job-related violence, according to a news release.
The DOL reported that OSHA determined nurses, assistants, technicians and security personnel at the hospital were exposed to workplace violence causing some of them to miss work.
