Nurses’ Union Asks OSHA for Violence Standard
National Nurses United (NNU), the largest union of registered nurses in the U.S., has called on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to crack down on violence faced by healthcare workers around the country. Requests in the NNU’s petition to OSHA include a requirement for violence prevention programs in the workplace, employee input in the creation and execution of these programs, anti-retaliation measures for employees who seek out law enforcement following acts of violence, and more, with the NNU asking for OSHA’s new regulations to be as inclusive of all healthcare workers as possible. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has reported that the number of healthcare and social-assistance workers who sustain injuries from workplace violence constitutes 2/3 of all workers and makes healthcare “more dangerous than construction”.
See "Nurses’ Union Asks OSHA for Violence Standard", Stephen Lee, Bloomberg BNA, July 13, 2016