On Oct. 21, 2016, after nearly two years of meetings and work, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) adopted a standard intended to reduce workplace violence against healthcare workers. This is a monumental action by Cal/OSHA for at least three reasons. First, federal OSHA currently has no specific standard governing workplace violence, and it is the first time that a state OSHA agency has adopted a standard addressing the prevention of workplace violence for healthcare facilities. Second, the standard is by far the strictest occupational safety and health regulation in the country governing workplace violence for healthcare workers. And third, the California standard sets an extremely high bar for other state OSHA plans, as well as federal OSHA, when these other agencies consider changes to their respective standards. Read more >>