Workplace violence is a real threat to worker safety, but it is much more of a threat at certain types of workplaces than it is at others. Corrections workers face a much higher risk of workplace violence in their work within our nation’s prisons as well as out in the community with those who are involved in the criminal justice system. A recent complaint to the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regarding a Mississippi prison brought about an investigation and eventual settlement that can serve as a template for requiring employers to actively mitigate the risk of violence within their workplaces.
The complaint got filed in 2011 by a correctional officer who worked at a privately operated state prison in Mississippi. The complaint is eight pages, and it raises numerous questions about the safety of people who work at the prison because of shortages of staff, shortages of security equipment like two-way radios, assaults by inmates on correctional officers, inadequate locking mechanisms on cells, and limited escape routes from the facility.
A shortage of staff in any workplace creates some degree of risk for employees. In a correctional setting, there are many situations where officers should work in pairs to safeguard their safety. When corrections staff work alone there is the potential for violence them more than there is if there are two or more working together. Workplaces of all kinds are responsible for knowing how many employees they need for each shift and for staffing their facilities accordingly. The staffing shortages at the prison were one of the reasons why OSHA cited the facility with a violation of its general duty clause.
Another contributing factor in why OSHA issued a willful violation citation for the prison is that malfunctioning cell door locks were not fixed, which greatly increased the risk of harm to staff and inmates due to violence, even though the employer was aware of the problem and aware of the danger that the problem created for some time. Fortunately, after the prison received the willful violation citation, the company which runs the facility agreed to implement specific safety modifications at the Mississippi prison that was the subject of the complaint and in all of its facilities nationwide. As part of that, the company hired a third-party corrections management consultant and implemented a workplace violence prevention program. They also created workplace safety committees. These steps forward are more than companies usually take after such a citation, but OSHA is hoping that other facilities that got similarly cited will follow suit and take the initiative to improve workplace safety.
Barrett Law PLLC – Representing The Interests of Injured Mississippi Workers
A skilled workplace injury attorney can help you navigate the often tricky task of pursuing a claim for damages after a workplace accident. Your attorney can also offer valuable support and guidance to assist you through every stage of the workers’ compensation claims process. If you got hurt at work or you lost a loved one in a workplace accident, you can get help from a Mississippi Workplace Accident Attorney. Call the Mississippi Workplace Accident Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC at 1 (800) 707-9577 to find out more.