ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 15, 1996 TAG: 9603150063
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
The Labor Department issued guidelines Thursday designed to reduce workplace violence, including homicides that now are the second-leading cause of death on the job.
Labor Secretary Robert Reich said the initial guidelines, which are voluntary, are targeted at the health care and social services industries, where about two-thirds of workplace violence occurs.
Victims include doctors and nurses, pharmacists, home health care workers, nurses' aides and welfare workers.
``It is a sad fact of life that workers who are dedicated to saving lives too often find their own lives endangered,'' Reich said.
``Health care and social service workers often face aggressive patients, visit clients' homes in dangerous neighborhoods, encounter violent situations in hospital emergency rooms or face other dangerous situations.
``But deaths and injuries are not inevitable,'' he added. ``Employers can reduce the risks to their workers with some common-sense strategies.''
Reich said guidelines will be developed for other industries including the night retail industry.
Department data show the rate of workplace violence for private industry is three cases for every 10,000 workers. But for residential care employees, it is 47 cases per 10,000; for nursing and personal care facilities, 38 cases.
In 1994, there were 1,071 workplace homicides - 16 percent of the 6,588 fatal work injuries. Although homicides now are the second-leading cause of workplace deaths overall, they are the leading cause of occupational deaths for women.
The leading cause of workplace deaths is traffic accidents. Victims include truck drivers and taxicab operators.
``We recognize that employers cannot prevent every possible violent act, but they can reduce the risk of death or injury ... by modifying the workplace and instituting appropriate administrative controls,'' said Assistant Secretary Joseph Dear, head of the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Among the suggestions included in OSHA's ``Guidelines for Workplace Violence Prevention Programs for Health Care and Social Service Workers'':
Install metal detectors to identify weapons.
Install alarm systems or panic buttons.
Use bright and effective lighting systems.
Use curved mirrors at hallway intersections or concealed areas.
Allow for two exits and arrange furniture to prevent entrapment.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB