OSHA Inspection: RESOURCE, SUPPORT & DEVELOPMENT, INC. (ALSO KNOWN AS R.S.D., INC.)

Issued

Mar 2, 2018

Abate by

Aug 1, 2018

Penalty

Initial $11,641 · Current $5,900 Reduced

General-duty citation text

OSH ACT of 1970 Section (5)(a)(1): 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 the hazard of being physically assaulted by consumers who exhibited aggressive behavior:           a. Resource Support & Development Inc.: On or about September 06, 2017, and at times prior, the employer failed to keep the workplace free of hazards. Employees, Habilitative (Hab) techs, transportation drivers, and group home managers were exposed to acts of violent behavior by consumers that have resulted in broken skin, bruising, scratches, soft tissue trauma and injuries to the head, neck, and torso from punches and kicks. Employees were exposed to the hazard of physical assaults during routine interactions while working with consumers who have a history of violent behavior. The employer has not established or implemented effective measures to protect employees from assaults or other physical violence in the workplace.              Among other methods, feasible and acceptable means to abate the workplace violence hazard at RSD include development of engineering and administrative controls, as well as training to materially reduce workplace violence hazards. These controls include:      Engineering and Work Practice Controls:      1) Require the use of company owned vehicles for transportation of consumers and install a barrier between the front and rear seats of company vehicles used to transport consumers, to prevent them from being able to reach over the front seats and assault drivers.      2) Provide two-way radios, cell phones (with pre-programmed emergency numbers) and panic alarms for employees including HAB techs, transportation drivers and group home managers, who may be in close proximity to consumers who have exhibited violent behavior in order to rapidly and reliably summon designated, trained staff. In addition, provide training on use and limitations of the equipment.      3) Secure knives so that they are not readily available to prevent them from being used as dangerous objects or weapons.  Furnish workplaces with heavy furniture that cannot be picked up and used as a weapon. Secure furniture to the floor when feasible.      4) Encourage staff to secure loose hair so that it is not accessible to consumers, to minimize the risk of neck strains and hair pull injuries.      5) Monitor existing security cameras in real-time to improve response time to escalating incidents.           Training:      6) Conduct site-specific training for all employees so they are aware of the specific hazards and relevant means to protect themselves and coworkers at various work locations.  The training should include what procedures and practices to follow in the workplace, including elements on how to anticipate and respond appropriately to de-escalate an agitated consumer and to utilize other techniques when de-escalation is not effective in order to avoid being injured.      7) Conduct house specific training at the beginning of employment, when significant changes are made to the policies and/or procedures, and annually thereafter.      8) Conduct training to ensure employees report all assaults or threats to a supervisor or manager, (for example, through a confidential interview).  Keep logbooks and reports of such incidents to help determine any necessary actions to prevent recurrences.            Worksite Analysis:      9) Ensure the workplace violence policy identifies all job tasks and locations where employees could be exposed to violent or aggressive behavior from consumer.          Administrative Controls:      10) Establish a system, or more fully implement the use of the near miss log book, to communicate to staff members any incident of workplace violence from the previous shift to ensure that oncoming staff members are aware of consumer behavior patterns.  Review acts of aggression and/or violent incidents from the previous shift during change-in-shift meetings.      11) Ensure the consumer to staff ratio on all shifts is  in accordance with state regulations and is adequate to handle incidents of violent behavior and ensure that staff are designated and trained to respond to calls for assistance promptly.        Recordkeeping and Program Evaluation:      12) Ensure that management enforces the policy requiring employees to report all violent incidents, near misses, and threats to a supervisor or manager, regardless of severity.        Post Incident:      13) Conduct an investigation and debriefing after each act of workplace violence.  Involve employees in the incident investigations and identify root causes.  Modify the GER procedure, as appropriate, to include documented supervisor input and follow-up with the affected employee(s).  Use security camera footage to determine whether the response to the incident needs improvement.  Identify lessons learned and implement corrective actions to prevent reoccurrence.