# Presentation: 329187

## OSHA Recommendations for Workplace Violence Prevention Programs in Late-Night Retail Establishments

- OSHA Recommendations for Workplace Violence Prevention Programs in Late-Night Retail Establishments

## What Is Workplace Violence?

- Workplace violence is any physical assault, threatening behavior, or verbal abuse occurring in the work setting

## Workplace Violence

- Violence is a leading cause of workplace fatality, resulting in 856 deaths in 1997(BLS)
- The most common type of workplace fatality is a shooting during the robbery of a retail, service or transportation worker

## Extent of Problem

- Job-related homicides in retail trades accounted for almost half of all workplace homicides in 1997
- Homicides in convenience and other grocery stores, eating and drinking places, and gasoline service stations constituted the largest share of homicides in retail establishments

## Assaults and Homicides

## Risk Factors

- Contact with the public
- Exchange of money
- Delivery of passengers, goods, or services
- Having a mobile workplace such as a taxicab or police cruiser

## Risk Factors (Cont’d)

- Working alone or in small numbers
- Working in high crime areas
- Working late, at night, or during early morning hours
- Guarding valuable property or possessions

## OSHA’s Commitment

- OSHA has developed recommendations to assist employers in night retail establishments to develop workplace violence prevention programs

## OSHA’s Commitment (cont’d)

- Recommendations are based on:
- OSHA’s 1989 Safety and Health Management Guidelines
- State regulations or recommendations from CA, FL, and WA

## Occupational Safety and Health Act

- The OSH Act of 1970 mandates that, in addition to compliance with hazard-specific standards, all employers have a general duty to provide their employees with a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm. This includes the prevention and control of the hazard of workplace violence
- OSHA will rely on Section 5 (a)(1) of the OSH Act (the “General Duty Clause”) for enforcement authority

## Recommendations

- Educational tool to help late-night retail employers
- 	- design, select, and implement workplace  		violence prevention programs
- 	- tailored to meet the specific needs and risk 		factors in their workplace

## Recommendations

- Not a standard
- Does not create any new OSHA duties
- Not a model program
- Not a “one size fits all” answer

## Recommendations

- Developed for late night retail, especially
- - convenience stores
- - liquor stores
- - gasoline stations
- Other late night retailers may find them helpful

## Violence Prevention Program Elements

- Management Commitment and Employee Involvement
- Worksite Analysis

- Hazard Prevention and Control
- Training
- Evaluation

## Management Commitment

- Create and share a policy of violence prevention
- Take incidents seriously
- Outline a security plan
- Assign responsibility, authority and resources

## Management Commitment

- Hold employees accountable
- Encourage prompt reporting and  tracking
- Encourage employees to get involved and make recommendations

## Management Commitment

- Make sure employees who report problems or experience an incident are not punished or discriminated (11c) against
- Work with others to improve security
- 	- police
- 	- landlords
- 	- employer associations

## Employee Involvement

- Participate in surveys and offer suggestions
- Assist in security analysis and inspection
- Help evaluate prevention and control measures
- Train other employees
- Share on-the-job experiences with other employees

## Worksite Hazard Analysis

- Step-by-step, common sense look at the workplace to find existing and potential hazards.
- - review records and past incidents
- - workplace security analysis
- - periodic safety audits

## Prevention Strategies

- Reduce the risk of robbery by:
- increasing the effort that the perpetrator must expend
- increasing the risks to the perpetrator
- reducing the rewards to the perpetrator

## Hazard Prevention  and Control

- Engineering controls and workplace adaptation
- Administrative and work practice controls
- Post incident response

## Engineering Controls

- Door detectors, buzzers
- Alarms
- Bullet resistant barriers

- Visibility and lighting
- Drop safes
- Video surveillance
- Height markers

## Administrative and Work Practice Controls

- Integrate violence prevention into daily procedures
- Minimal cash in register
- Emergency procedures, systems of communication
- Procedures to use barriers & enclosures
- Increase staffing at high risk locations/times

## Administrative and Work Practice Controls

- Lock delivery doors
- Establish rules for workers leaving facility
- Lock doors when not open, procedures for opening and closing
- Limit access
- Adopt safety procedures for off-site work

## Post Incident Response

- Get medical care for injured victims
- Report to police and other authorities
- Inform management
- Secure the premises - safeguard evidence
- Prepare incident report immediately
- Arrange appropriate psychological treatment for victims

## Training

- Ensure that all staff are aware of security hazards and protective procedures
- Workers
- potential risks
- operational procedures
- use of security measures
- behavioral strategies
- incident response
- emergency action

## Training

- Supervisors, managers and security personnel
- 	- same training as all other workers
- 	- additional training to help them recognize, 	 analyze and establish controls

## Evaluation

- Recordkeeping
- Injuries
- Incidents
- Hazard analyses
- Recommendations from police, consultants, employees
- Hazard correction
- Training and safety meetings

## Evaluation

- Review the results of safety audits
- Review post incident reports
- Review minutes from safety meetings
- Analyze trends in incidents, injuries, etc...
- Consult with employees before & after worksite changes
- Update information on violence prevention strategies

## Sources of Assistance

- OSHA Internet Site www.osha.gov
- OSHA State Programs (California, Florida, Virginia, Washington have developed specific guidelines and recommendations)
- OSHA Consultation Program
- NIOSH
- Trade Associations, Unions, Insurers, etc..