Topping the List of Hazardous Places to Work

If you were asked what the most hazardous places to work are, you might suggest a 24-hour quick-stop grocery; a 24-hour gas station, especially if it is in what might be termed a "rough" part of town; or a specific type of job—for instance, roofers are often exposed to more hazards than people in other professions.??

But it is doubtful you will mention one place that is inching toward the top of the list as being one of the most hazardous places to work. One reason you may not think of it is that traditionally, this type of workplace has been known as a place of safety, security, and wellness.??

We are referring to hospitals, and yes, they are climbing the list as one of the most hazardous places to work. ?

In 2019, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, there were 221,400 work-related injuries and illnesses in hospitals. This equates to approximately 5.5 incidents for every one hundred full-time hospital workers. And many of these injuries result from personal assaults, shootings, and violence in hospitals.

As you might suspect, the pandemic made things worse. According to a June 23, 2022, report on ABC News/Philadelphia, a survey of staff working in hundreds of U.S. hospitals indicate violent crime in hospitals has increased by more than 20 percent since 2020, considered the most challenging year of the pandemic for medical facilities.?

The same study found that assaults – mostly on doctors and nurses, the same people working to help save lives – were up 30 percent.

This ABC News report did not include data for 2021.? That is still being compiled and may prove to be even more alarming.

However, what we know now is this:

"Health care employees are five times more likely to be a victim of aggravated assault than [workers in] any other industry," said Paul Sarnese with the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety.

Maureen May, with the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, added that workplace violence in hospitals "has escalated, and it's worsened with the pandemic." May says that "eight in ten healthcare workers experienced at least one incident of violence during the pandemic."???

What Can Be Done?

So, what can hospital administrators do to protect both workers and patients in the hospital setting? When working with our healthcare clients, we typically suggest doing the following as soon as possible:

Listen to hospital workers. The ABC News study reported that in some cases, hospital administrators had been warned about growing violence in their hospitals, but their warnings were ignored.?

Face the facts. Question hospital staff to get an accurate picture of how many have experienced on-site assaults or injuries in the past year. Not only is there a need to know, but the result of this survey becomes a benchmark.?When steps are taken to reduce hospital violence, this benchmark can be used to determine which actions are helping and which are not, along with how things have improved.

Ensure all hospital violence is documented. A survey published in 2016 found that 88 percent of hospital workers who experienced violence or assaults while on the job failed to report these incidents in an “electric system.” In this case, an "electric system" refers to an electronic database where these incidents can be documented and stored.?

Conduct a risk assessment. This is the most significant step hospital administrators can take, and it should be performed as soon as possible. When a professionally conducted risk assessment is completed, risks, hazards, and vulnerabilities are identified, and hospital administrators can address these hazards. Steps can now be taken to mitigate (minimize) risks.

Uncovering risks, prioritizing them, and addressing them— and ensuring new risks do not arise—is crucial to making our hospitals safer, for staffers and patients alike.?

Integrity, Reliability, Confidentiality

Johnathan Tal is Chief Executive Officer of TAL Global Corporation, an international investigative and risk-consulting firm. He served as a military field intelligence officer for the Israeli armed forces during the 1970s. Tal has also served as an antiterrorism security specialist. He is a licensed investigator, Certified Private Investigator (CPI), and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and he holds a Bachelor of Science degree. He can be reached on his company website at www.talglobal.com.