HOUSTON – Texas Children’s Hospital is in the hot seat and may face a hefty penalty after the U.S. Department of Labor said it failed to protect employees from patients.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined that the hospital, located at 1919 South Braeswood Blvd, exposed employees who worked with patients with behavioral health issues to physical threats and assaults.
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On Nov. 10, the Department of Labor said an aggressive patient pulled a security officer to the ground by the hair and kicked them repeatedly in the chest and abdomen. The officer, who was responding to an alert, lost consciousness, was taken to the emergency room and hospitalized.
OSHA found the employer had “inadequate policies and procedures to protect employees from physical assaults by patients who exhibited violent behavior during medical surveillance and treatment.”
“Workplace violence is an increasing problem for healthcare workers. The incident in this investigation is one of many recent attacks by patients against industry workers,” said OSHA Area Director Mark Briggs in Houston. “Healthcare employers must protect their employees, particularly those in contact with aggressive or potentially aggressive patients, from the danger of being attacked by a patient. Employers must have certain effective policies and procedures in place so employees don’t have to work in fear of their safety.”
The hospital is now facing a penalty of $15,625.
Texas Children’s Hospital released the following statement regarding the incident:
“The safety of the employees, faculty and patients remains a key priority at Texas Children’s Hospital and we are very proud of our efforts to provide a safe workplace. We are actively engaged in dialogue with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and disagree with the initial findings released by OSHA. Texas Children’s has strong safety protocols and training procedures in place and we are constantly optimizing our processes to ensure a safe environment.”