Recordkeeping

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By Brent I. Clark, Adam R. Young, Matthew A. Sloan, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: Fifth Circuit rules on Title VII liability concerning workplace violence in a healthcare setting involving third parties. Gardner v. CLC of Pascagoula, No. 17-60072 (5th Cir. February 6, 2019).

A recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit highlights the risks posed to employers in the healthcare and social assistance industries by uncorrected or unaddressed customer-on-employee violence.

Fifth Circuit Reverses Lower Court’s Summary Judgment Ruling

Gardner involves a nurse who alleged that an assisted living facility allowed a hostile work environment to be created by nonemployees by not preventing a resident’s repetitive harassment. The plaintiff, a Certified Nursing Assistant, “often worked with patients who were either physically combative or sexually aggressive.”

The Court explains that under 29 C.F.R. § 1604.11(e)—one of Title VII’s sexual harassment provisions— “an employer may . . . be responsible for the acts of non-employees, with respect to sexual harassment of employees in the workplace, where the employer (or its agents or supervisory employees) knows or should have known of the conduct and fails to take immediate and appropriate corrective action.”

Gardner’s experiences with one patient at the CLC facility rose to a new, dangerous level. According to the Court, “[the patient] J.S. was an elderly resident who lived at Plaza between 2006 and 2014. He had a reputation for groping female employees and becoming physically aggressive when reprimanded. J.S. had been diagnosed with a variety of physical and mental illnesses including dementia, traumatic brain injury, personality disorder with aggressive behavior, and Parkinson’s Disease.” J.S. had a long history of violent and sexual behavior toward both patients and staff at the facility.

Gardner refused to care for J.S. again due to the continued harassment, and asked to be reassigned. Her request was denied. She ended up going to the emergency room for injuries she sustained at the hands of J.S., and did not return to work for three months. Shortly after her return, she was fired.

In reversing the district court, which had concluded that a hostile workplace did not exist, the Fifth Circuit held that the “evidence of persistent and often physical harassment by J.S. is enough to allow a jury to decide whether a reasonable caregiver on the receiving end of the harassment would have viewed it as sufficiently severe or pervasive even considering the medical condition of the harasser.”

Customer-on-Employee Violence in the OSHA Context

Federal OSHA currently enforces workplace violence via the General Duty Clause, under which OSHA requires employers to take affirmative steps to protect their employees. Significantly, and unsurprisingly, OSHA has also considered whether to commence rulemaking proceedings on a new standard for preventing workplace violence in healthcare and social assistance workplaces perpetrated by patients and clients. Prevention of Workplace Violence in Healthcare and Social Assistance, 81 Fed. Reg. 88147 (December 7, 2016).

Additionally, note also that California healthcare employers are currently regulated under the Violence Protection in Health Care standard, and are required, as of April 1, 2018, to comply with those provisions for implementing a Violence Prevention Plan and for training their employees.

Workplace violence may affect numerous healthcare and social assistance workplaces, including psychiatric facilities, hospital emergency departments, community mental health clinics, treatment clinics for substance abuse disorders, pharmacies, community-care facilities, residential facilities and long-term care facilities. Professions affected by the proposed rulemaking include physicians, registered nurses, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physicians’ assistants, nurses’ aides, therapists, technicians, public health nurses, home healthcare workers, social and welfare workers, security personnel, maintenance personnel, and emergency medical care personnel.

According to OSHA, workers in the Health Care and Social Assistance sector (NAICS 62) face a substantially increased risk of injury due to workplace violence. In 2014 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII), workers in this sector experienced workplace-violence-related injuries at an estimated incidence rate of 8.2 per 10,000 full time workers, over 4 times higher than the rate of 1.7 per 10,000 workers in the private sector overall. Individual portions of the healthcare sector have much higher rates. Psychiatric hospitals have incidence rates over 64 times higher than private industry as a whole, and nursing and residential care facilities have rates 11 times higher than those for private industry as a whole. In 2014, 79 percent of serious violent incidents reported by employers in healthcare and social assistance settings were caused by interactions with patients.

State and Federal OSHA has clearly been keeping an eye on this industry and these incident rates. For instance, in August 2016 we blogged about how “NIOSH Offers Free Training Program to Help Employers Address Safety Risks Faced by Home Healthcare Workers,” in December 2015 we noted that “OSHA Issues “Strategies and Tools” to “Help Prevent” Workplace Violence in the Healthcare Setting,” in July 2015 we blogged that “Healthcare Employers to Get Even More Attention from OSHA,” and in April 2015 we blogged that “OSHA Updates Workplace Violence Guidance for Protecting Healthcare and Social Service Workers.” Also, this action follows on “CA Nears Adoption of New Workplace Violence Regulations for Health Care Employers, Home Health Providers, and Emergency Responders.”

For more information on this or any related topic, please contact the authors, your Seyfarth attorney, or any member of the Workplace Safety and Health (OSHA/MSHA) Team or the Workplace Counseling & Solutions Team.

By James L. Curtis, Daniel Birnbaum, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: NIOSH reiterated last week that healthcare workers are exposed to a wide range of hazards on the job and healthcare employers may not be following best practices to protect against these hazards.

Healthcare is the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. economy, employing over 18 million workers, 80% of which are women.  These healthcare workers face numerous hazards on the job, including sharps injuries, exposures to chemicals and hazardous drugs, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), latex allergy, violence, and stress.

Significantly, there are more cases of healthcare workers suffering nonfatal occupational injury and illnesses than any other industry sector.  In a recent healthcare study, NIOSH found that as to administering aerosolized pentamidine to patients “22% of respondents did not always wear protective gloves, 69% did not always wear protective gowns, and 49% did not always wear respiratory protection….”  NIOSH concluded that there was “a belief that employers do not fully appreciate the potential adverse health effects associated with exposure to these drugs and therefore do not prioritize adherence.”

As to high-level disinfectants, the survey findings showed that best practices to minimize exposure have not been universally implemented.  NIOSH’s survey found that “17% of respondents said they never received training and, of those who received training, 42% said that it was more than 12 months ago.  19% of respondents said that employer safe handling procedures were unavailable.”  “44% of respondents did not always wear a protective gown and 9% did not always wear protective gloves.”

Critically, NIOSH concluded that employers and employees did not always follow best practices.

For healthcare employers this conclusion should be a red-flag as to the overall quality of their safety and health policies.  Healthcare employers should consult with safety professionals who are well versed in the areas where the employers may be out of touch with best practices.  Such consultations can enhance employee safety and help avoid liabilities associated with OSHA violations.

For more information on this or any related topic please contact the authors, your Seyfarth attorney, or any member of the Workplace Safety and Health (OSHA/MSHA) Team or the Workplace Counseling & Solutions Team.

By Brent I. Clark, Adam R. Young, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA has recently updated and published its enforcement procedures for occupational exposure to workplace violence.  The procedures explain and lay out the elements of an OSHA General Duty Clause violation, as well as NIOSH’s guidance for determining the potential for workplace violence.

OSHA defines “workplace violence” as an act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site.  It ranges from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults, or homicide.  It can involve employees, clients, customers, and visitors.  In addition, OSHA asserts that nearly two million American workers report being victims of workplace violence each year.  According to OSHA: “unfortunately, many more cases go unreported.”

To assist the Agency and its Certified Safety and Health Official (CSHO) inspectors in assessing and citing instances of workplace violence, OSHA has recently released its updated Enforcement Procedures and Scheduling for Occupational Exposure to Workplace Violence, OSHA Directive CPL 02-01-058 (January 10, 2017).  The Directive was last updated in 2011.

The Directive lays out the elements of a General Duty Clause violation, including:

  • The employer failed to keep the workplace free of a hazard to which employees of that employer were exposed;
  • The hazard was recognized;
  • The hazard was causing or was likely to cause death or serious physical harm; and
  • There was a feasible and useful method to correct the hazard.

The Directive also lists “known risk factors”, which “shall be considered in determining whether to inspect a worksite, [but which] none of them would individually trigger an inspection.” The risk factors are: contact with the public; exchange of money; delivery of passengers, goods, or services; having a mobile workplace such as a taxicab; working with persons in healthcare, social service, or criminal justice settings; working alone or in small numbers; working late at night or during early morning hours; working in high-crime areas; guarding valuable property or possessions; working in community-based settings, such as drug rehabilitation centers and group homes.

How Can Workplace Violence Hazards be Reduced?

OSHA indicates that “in most workplaces where risk factors can be identified,” the risk of assault can be prevented or minimized if employers take appropriate precautions. It suggests that one of the best protections is a zero-tolerance policy toward workplace violence.  The policy, OSHA advises, should cover all workers, patients, clients, visitors, contractors, and anyone else who may come in contact with company personnel.

By assessing worksites, employers can identify methods for reducing the likelihood of incidents occurring. “OSHA believes that a well-written and implemented workplace violence prevention program, combined with engineering controls, administrative controls and training can reduce the incidence of workplace violence in both the private sector and federal workplaces.”

Employers seeking to address this topic in the company’s employee handbook or policy documents should do so carefully, as in the event of an incident, this will be one of the first company documents requested and received by an inspector.

On the enforcement side, we note that OSHA continues to issue citations under the General Duty Clause for alleged workplace violence hazards. However, all of these citations follow one or more actual instances of violence at work.  OSHA appears to be unable to gather sufficient facts during an inspection to support a citation in advance of an actual instance of workplace violence — even though OSHA’s citations allege the employer should have addressed the hazard in advance.

For more information on this or any related topic please contact the authors, your Seyfarth attorney, or any member of the Workplace Safety and Health (OSHA/MSHA) Team or the Workplace Counseling & Solutions Team.

By Brent I. Clark, Joshua M. Henderson, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Division of Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board approved last week its regulations on Workplace Violence Prevention in Health Care.

The California Division of Occupational Safety & Health (Cal/OSHA) Standards Board approved last week its regulations on Workplace Violence Prevention in Health Care, CCR Title 8, Section 3342. The Notice of Addition of Documents to California Code of Regulations was signed September 27, 2016, and the rule was passed by the Board on October 21, 2016. The draft has now been submitted to the Office of Administrative Law for review and approval (or not). If approved the rules will become final and will be submitted to the Secretary of State for promulgation.

We had blogged in 2015 about the Cal/OSHA draft proposed regulation that would require health-care employers, home health and hospice providers, and emergency responders to develop workplace violence-prevention plans, train their employees, and keep records related to workplace violence incidents. If adopted, the regulations also require certain hospitals to report violent incidents that resulted in an injury, involved the use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon, or present an urgent or emergent threat to the welfare, health or safety within 24 hours and all incidents within 72 hours.

Based on the definition of “reportable workplace violence incident” employers are required to report incidents that did not result in an injury if there was a high likelihood that injury, psychological trauma, or stress would result, or the incident involved the use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon. The regulations further require employers to take immediate corrective action where a hazard was imminent and take measures to protect employees from identified serious workplace violence hazards within seven days of the discovery of the hazard. Additionally, employers are required to maintain a “Violent Incident Log.”

The rule follows the enactment of SB 1299, requiring Cal/OSHA to have a workplace violence prevention regulation for healthcare workers promulgated by July 1, 2016. Yet, California was not alone. The regulation comes as emphasis on workplace violence increases in both federal and state plan OSHA jurisdictions. For instance, in April 2015 we blogged that “OSHA Updates Workplace Violence Guidance for Protecting Healthcare and Social Service Workers”, in July 2015 we blogged that “Healthcare Employers to Get Even More Attention from OSHA”, in December 2015 “OSHA Issues “Strategies and Tools” to “Help Prevent” Workplace Violence in the Healthcare Setting”, and in August 2016 we blogged about how “NIOSH Offers Free Training Program to Help Employers Address Safety Risks Faced by Home Healthcare Workers”.

As part of the employer’s Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP), under section 3342(c), the final rules require a “Workplace Violence Prevention Plan” (Plan) that is “in effect at all times in every unit, service, and operation. The Plan shall be in writing, shall be specific to the hazards and corrective measures for the unit, service, or operation, and shall be available to employees at all times. The written Plan may be incorporated into the written IIPP or maintained as a separate document”. In addition, the final rules do incorporate the “Violent Incident Log” provisions. The rules require that the “employer shall record information in a violent incident log about every incident, post-incident response, and workplace violence injury investigation”.

Covered employers in California should take care to evaluate their workplaces for potential workplace violence hazards and institute–and enforce–policies concerning training and reporting.  Certainly employers in California, or with a business presence in California, there is a heightened need to evaluate compliance with these new rules. In addition to modified policies, procedures, and training systems, these new rules may require substantial changes including physical facility changes and staffing increases.

Note that with or without these new rules, in California or out, an administrative enforcement action in the event of a workplace violence incident or related civil liability is a possibility. The new rules also incorporate substantial training, reporting, and recordkeeping provisions. Federal OSHA enforces workplace violence under the General Duty Clause. We would not be surprised to see the Federal OSHA referring to the California Rule in its citations in the future.

For more information on this or any related topic please contact the authors, your Seyfarth attorney, or any member of the OSHA Compliance, Enforcement & Litigation Team or the Workplace Policies and Handbooks Team.

 

 

By: Mark A. Lies II and Kerry M. Mohan

On Tuesday we wrote about OSHA’s September 11, 2014, announcement of its Final Rules that revised current recordkeeping standards.  Today, we provide you more information regarding what the changes to those rules will mean.

Increased Reporting Of Injuries And Incidents Will Lead To Increased OSHA Inspections

Under the current rule, all employers are required to report to OSHA “[w]ithin eight (8) hours of the death of an employee from a work-related incident or the in-patient hospitalization of three or more employees as a result of a work-related incident.” 29 C.F.R. § 1904.39(a). This requirement applies to all employers, regardless if they have 10 or fewer employees and regardless of if they are exempt from maintaining recordkeeping logs.

Under the new standard, all employers are required to report to OSHA:

  • Within eight (8) hours after the death of any employee as a result of a work-related incident;” and
  • Within twenty-four (24) hours after the in-patient hospitalization of one or more employees or an employee’s amputation or an employee’s loss of an eye, as a result of a work-related incident.”

20 C.F.R. § 1904.39(a) as amended.

OSHA’s new reporting rule raises several questions as to what it even means. For instance, what constitutes an amputation? Under the new rule, an amputation does not require bone loss. Thus, does the cutting-off of the very tip of a finger, no matter how small, constitute an amputation? Also, what constitutes the loss of an eye? Does it require an immediate incident resulting in the loss of an eye? The fact that these questions exist means that OSHA may have a different interpretation of the rule than the employer, which could result in a citation.

Moreover, the new standard’s implications are significant. As you may expect, the reporting of a death or serious injury often leads to an OSHA inspection, which brings its own set of issues. Thus, by requiring employers to now report more injuries and illnesses, the number of OSHA inspections, and citations issued as a result, will certainly increase.

Multi-Employer Worksites

As this rule unfolds, it will have implications relating to OSHA’s “multi-employer” worksite doctrine which is applicable when there are multiple employers engaged in performing work at the same worksite.

Section 5(a) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act broadly requires employers to furnish each of its employees a workplace free from recognized hazards and to comply with all occupational safety and health standards developed by OSHA. Thus, the Act creates two types of obligations: 1) a “general duty” obligation running only to the employer’s own employees; and 2) an obligation to obey all OSHA standards with respect to all employees, regardless of their employer.

This second obligation formed the basis for OSHA’s “multi-employer worksite policy,” under which the Agency decided it had the authority to issue citations not only to employers who exposed their own employees to hazardous conditions, but also to employers who created a hazardous condition that endangered employees, whether its own or those of another employer.  This policy gave OSHA the ability to issue citations to multiple employers even for violations that did not directly affect the employer’s own employees. This policy had particular import in the construction industry, with many different employers having employees at a site at any given time.

Since the early 1980s, OSHA has continuously expanded the scope of its multi-employer worksite policy. Under OSHA’s current enforcement policy, compliance officers are instructed to issue citations to any employer who:

1)      exposed its own employees to a hazardous condition;

2)      created a hazardous condition that endangered any employer’s employees;

3)      was responsible for correcting a hazardous condition even if its own employees were not exposed to the hazard; or

4)      had the ability to control to prevent or abate a hazardous condition through the exercise of reasonable supervisory authority.

This fourth category, the “controlling employer,” has historically caused the most consternation among employers as well as courts.  The new OSHA enforcement policy regarding reporting of injuries or illness and monitoring the OSHA 300 Log and related documents will raise numerous issues, for example:

  • Does the controlling employer at the worksite have OSHA liability if another employer, such as a subcontractor or a temporary staffing service, at the worksite fails to report an injury or illness involving the subcontractor’s or temporary staffing service’s employee to OSHA within the required time period?
  • What obligation does the controlling employer have to inquire with other employers to determine whether a subcontractor or temporary staffing service had a reportable or recordable injury or illness and whether the subcontractor or temporary staffing service complied with the rule?
  • Who is responsible for maintaining the OSHA 300 Log at the worksite since OSHA has specific rules regarding which employer(s) is/are required to maintain the Log if there are multiple employers at the worksite?

Inspection Preparation

As many employers have learned who have been inspected by OSHA, there are respective rights of the employer, employees and OSHA during an OSHA inspection.  Unfortunately, most employers are unaware of these respective rights, as well as their employees, and, therefore, may waive important rights regarding the scope of the inspection, what documents the agency is and is not entitled to and how to respond to requests for employee interviews. Since there will be many more inspections generated, it is critical in the next several months that employers train their supervisors and make employees aware of these rights.

Training Of The OSHA Record Keeper

Because many thousands of new employers will now be responsible for maintaining the OSHA 300 Log, the training process must begin now so that the record-keepers can begin to properly document recordable injuries and illnesses on the Log, as of January 1, 2015. The record-keeper will need to learn the various categories of recordable injuries and illnesses, how to evaluate medical records to determine whether an incident is recordable and then become aware of how to insert the data into the correct categories in the Log. The learning curve will be steep since the Log must be completed for each recordable incident within seven (7) calendar days of the employer becoming aware that there has been a recordable injury or illness.

Recommendations

In order to be prepared to meet these new compliance obligations, employers should consider the following:

  • determine whether the employer is now subject to the requirement to maintain the OSHA 300 Log, and if so, designate and train an employee who will be competent to perform this responsibility
  • conduct training for its record-keeper or other responsible employee regarding the new requirements to report the expanded categories of reportable severe injuries and illnesses within twenty-four (24) hours to OSHA
  • because there will be many more OSHA inspections due to the new reportable categories of severe injuries and illnesses, conduct training on the various rights and responsibilities of employers, employees and OSHA during an OSHA inspection so that these rights can be properly exercised to limit the scope of potential employer liability.

For more information, please contact the authors, a member of the Seyfarth’s Environmental Safety and Toxic Torts Team, or your Seyfarth attorney.

By: Mark A. Lies II and Kerry M. Mohan

As many employers know all too well, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) requires them to record work-related injuries and illnesses and to maintain the OSHA 300 Log for five years. Moreover, OSHA requires all employers to report to OSHA certain serious injuries within a short time period. On September 11, 2014, OSHA announced its Final Rule revising the current recordkeeping standard, which will significantly expand the recordkeeping rule’s reach to hundreds of thousands of new employers and place further burdens on employers to report additional workplace injuries and illnesses. Since these new rules become effective on January 1, 2015, employers are being encouraged, but have little time in reality, to modify their practices and prepare for the coming wave of enforcement.

OSHA’s Recordkeeping Regulations

Under OSHA’s recordkeeping regulations, 29 C.F.R. 1904, certain employers with more than 10 employees must record work-related injuries and maintain written records for five (5) years. Those records include the 300 Log, the 301 form, and the 300A annual summary. Though it may sound simple, recordkeeping is not an easy task, as it involves numerous issues including  work-relatedness, the nature and scope of an injury or illness, and the counting of employee days off from work or restricted duty, all of which many times involve analysis of incomplete or conflicting evidence. For instance, an employer may disagree with an employee’s claim that his or her injury or illness is work-related. In such circumstances, the employer must evaluate the employee’s claim to determine whether the injury or illness should be recorded on the OSHA 300 Log or should be found to be non-work-related. If the employer finds that the injury is non-work-related, the employer will have to maintain documentation to support its determination in case OSHA were to challenge that decision.

Thousands Of New Employers Are Now Subject To OSHA’s Recordkeeping Requirement

Under OSHA’s current rule, employers with 10 or fewer employees are exempt from maintaining OSHA 300, 301, and 300A records, which track work-related injuries. The current rule also exempts thousands of employers based on their Standard Industrial Classification (“SIC”) codes. Under the new rule, the list of exempted employers will be based on North American Industry Classification System (“NAICS”) codes. As a result, many employers who were once exempted from OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements will now have to begin maintaining OSHA 300, 301, and 300A records. Some of the industries now covered by the recordkeeping rules include:

  • “Bakeries and tortilla manufacturing;”
  • “Automobile dealers;”
  • “Automotive parts, accessories and tire stores;”
  • “Lessors of real estate;”
  • “Facilities support services;”
  • “Beer, wine, and liquor stores;”
  • “Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment rental and leasing;”
  • “Direct selling establishments;”
  • “Performing arts companies;”
  • “Museums , historical sites, and similar institutions;”
  • “Amusement and recreation industries; and
  • “Other personal services.”

The first question that comes to mind when seeing this list of industries now covered under the recordkeeping rule is, “What is OSHA even talking about?” Thus, it is important that employers learn what their NAICS code is to determine if they are now covered by the recordkeeping rule. If so, the employer will then have to count its number of employees to see if it has 10 or fewer. There is information available from OSHA at www.osha.gov/recordkeeping2014 on how to conduct this assessment and also identify the employers now subject to the rule.

In short, OSHA’s new rule will encompass hundreds of thousands of employers who never had to keep these records. Moreover, because of the January 1, 2015 implementation date, these employers must take prompt action to ensure that they are prepared to record injuries and illnesses in the future.

LATER THIS WEEK — Information on how these changes impact employers, their reporting requirements and what we can expect from OSHA in the coming new year.

For more information, please contact the authors, a member of the Seyfarth’s Environmental Safety and Toxic Torts Team, or your Seyfarth attorney.