OSHA Inspection: THE RENAISSANCE PROJECT INC.

Issued

Apr 5, 2011

Abate by

Jun 30, 2012

Penalty

Initial $4,900 · Current $4,900

General-duty citation text

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970:  The
employer did not
furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from
recognized hazards that
were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to
employees in that employees
were exposed to violence in the workplace:
A)On or about October 6, 2010, at 767 Cape Road, Ellenville, NY, the
employer
operated a 100-bed residential facility for individuals recovering from
substance
abuse staffed with a single untrained security guard.  The employer had not
developed or implemented adequate measures to protect its staff from
physical
assaults, such as stabbing, bludgeoning, punching, kicking, etc., nor had
provided
training to staff to advise them of how to respond in the event of an
actual or
threatened physical assault.
Among other methods, feasible and acceptable means to abate the hazard of
workplace violence at the Renaissance Project include:
a.Evaluate the staff communication log to identify clients that exhibit
violent
behavior and incorporate measures that reduce the likelihood of clients
committing violence in the workplace, i.e. increasing security, identifying
potential weapons of opportunity and disallowing access to them,
transferring
violent client to an alternative treatment facility cable of treating such
clients, etc.
b.Develop an emergency communication plan and train employees on the plan.
c.Develop and implement engineering controls such as:
*Installing panic buttons in employees' offices,
*Issuing hand held alarms or noise devices,
*Issuing private channel radios where risk is apparent or may be
anticipated.
*Ensuring a reliable response system when an alarm is triggered.
*Establish a reliable means of emergency communication to notify security
personnel and law enforcement in the event of an attack.
d.Develop and implement administrative controls such as:
*Locking staff offices during the night shift;
*Implementing a buddy system;
*Determining the behavioral history of new/transferred patients; and
*Establishing a system - such as chart tags, log books, or verbal census
reports - to identify clients with assaultive behavior problems.
Any incident should trigger a review of log books and an evaluation of the
current program and procedures to determine the effectiveness of workplace
controls.  The employer should implement any necessary changes to
preventreoccurrences, and should follow written security procedures in
order to prevent
employee exposure to workplace violence.
e.Ensure sufficient security presence/personnel on facility floors at all
times
(particularly evening and night shifts).  Ensure that doors are locked in
the
evening and that procedures are in place for (re)entry to the facility.
f.Establish open communication between security employees and other
employees
to help identify problematic clients and/or situations that could result
in
an
incident.
g.Train security personnel in crisis intervention, and workplace violence
prevention
policies and programs.
h.Conduct an annual site specific workplace violence hazard analysis using
recognized guidelines and publications such as, but not limited to, OSHA's
Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Health Care & Social
Service
Workers (Publication No. OSHA 3148-01R 2004) and NIOSH's Violence:
Occupational Hazards in Hospitals (Publication No. 2002-101), to identify
hazards, conditions, operations and/or situations that could lead to
violence.  The
employer must address and correct any deficiencies identified during the
annual
hazard analysis.
ABATEMENT CERTIFICATION AND DOCUMENTATION IS REQUIRED FOR
THIS ITEM

Issued

Apr 5, 2011

Abate by

Jun 30, 2012

Penalty

Initial $4,900 · Current $3,430 Reduced

Issued

Apr 5, 2011

Abate by

Jun 30, 2012

Penalty

Initial $4,900 · Current $3,430 Reduced

Issued

Apr 5, 2011

Abate by

Jun 30, 2012

Penalty

Initial $4,900 · Current $3,430 Reduced

Issued

Apr 5, 2011

Abate by

Jun 30, 2012

Penalty

Initial $4,200 · Current $2,100 Reduced

Issued

Apr 5, 2011

Abate by

Jun 30, 2012

Issued

Apr 5, 2011

Abate by

Apr 28, 2011

Penalty

Initial $700

Issued

Apr 5, 2011

Abate by

Apr 8, 2011

Penalty

Initial $3,500