Nurses, Bus Drivers, Teachers: Facing Violence on the Job

[Omaha Steve]

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http://labornotes.org/2014/10/nurses-bus-drivers-teachers-facing-violence-job

October 07, 2014 / Jane Slaughter

In a Milwaukee psychiatric hospital, a patient smashes a mirror and threatens to stab staffers with a shard if they come near. In Chicago, a student puts sulfuric acid in a teacher’s water when his back is turned. In Washington, D.C., a rider throws hot coffee on a bus driver. In New York City, subway workers are routinely spat upon. In Albany, New York, mail carriers request armed escorts because of random shootings in a neighborhood.

And the Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated Brooklyn’s Brookdale University Hospital after a patient kicked a 70-year-old RN repeatedly in the head.

The nurse is in a coma and not expected to recover, according to Steve Schrag, who does hazardous materials training for the victim’s union, 1199SEIU. “It’s an exaggerated version of what happens every day,” he said. “Our members are so livid at management’s callousness.”



Detroit bus drivers demand measures to protect them from assault. Transit employers resist even simple changes such as Plexiglas shields or training on how to cope with belligerent riders. Photo: Jim West, jimwestphoto.com.

Just from February through early April this year, OSHA found, workers at Brookdale were assaulted by patients or their family members 40 times. The agency took the rare step of charging the hospital with a “willful” violation, the most serious level. It levied a $78,000 fine and ordered Brookdale to take steps to defend employees from assaults.

But in far more cases, when workers are hurt, management suffers no consequences.

“Whenever a worker dies on the job, someone should go to jail,” Schrag argues. “OSHA can give citations and fines, but who pays the fine? The CEO will not pay the fine.”

- See more at: http://labornotes.org/2014/10/nurses-bus-drivers-teachers-facing-violence-job#sthash.sit6d9c9.dpuf

FULL story at link.

Jane Slaughter is a former editor of Labor Notes.