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Factors associated with physical injury or police involvement during incidents of workplace violence in hospitals: Findings from the first year of California's new standard
Author(s) -
Odes Rachel,
Hong OiSaeng,
Harrison Robert,
Chapman Susan
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.23103
Subject(s) - medicine , occupational safety and health , odds , suicide prevention , injury prevention , poison control , logistic regression , human factors and ergonomics , incident report , medical emergency , health care , odds ratio , workplace violence , occupational injury , environmental health , family medicine , emergency medicine , forensic engineering , pathology , engineering , economics , economic growth
Background Workplace violence in healthcare settings is known to be a costly and often underreported problem. In California, hospitals are required to report incidents of violence towards workers to the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (CalOSHA) using an online reporting system that went into effect in 2017. Methods Reports submitted to CalOSHA from July 2017 to September 2018 pursuant to this new requirement were analyzed using descriptive methods and logistic regression. Results Four hundred eight hospitals submitted reports using the new incident reporting system. Behavioral health units had 1.82 times the odds of the reported incident resulting in physical injury compared to inpatient medical units, and investor‐owned facilities had 2.43 times the odds of the reported incident resulting in physical injury compared to city or county‐owned facilities. Inpatient and behavioral health units had significantly reduced odds of a reported incident resulting in police involvement when compared to other locations within the hospital. Conclusions These findings indicate that protections for healthcare workers deserve ongoing attention from stakeholders and legislators and provide insight into how healthcare facilities report incidents of violence towards workers.