August 2011 – Risk and Security LLC

August 2011

Put your Hospital Security Department on a Low Fat Diet

Posted on August 11, 2011 12:55 pm by Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton Comment

Hospitals are reeling from potential losses in funding related to state budget cut-backs
and potential cuts in Medicare programs. Every area of the hospital budget are being scrutinized, looking for areas to cut and reduce costs.

Instead of waiting for a memo about cuts that affect YOUR department, be a
pro-active manager and right-size your security department and show management
the changes you want to make.

It is possible to have an efficient, accountable security department without having costs run out of control. It has to be based on real dollars, on real risks and it has to have the ability to show management WHY you need each element in your program.

The already-required risk assessment is the first start in this process. When regulators come in to a hospital, they want to see the risk assessment first, and then they look to see if you followed the remediation plan identified in the risk assessment, which means they want to see you made the right improvements, based on the plan.

By including program elements in the risk assessment, and mapping it back to your actual budget, you can easily say that the Return On Investment is for each part of your program.

Is $7000 Enough of a Fine for a Young Girl’s Murder?

Posted on August 3, 2011 8:48 pm by Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton Comment

OSHA workplace safety officials have fined the organization that runs a Revere group home, where a Peabody mental health worker was stabbed in January, for not having adequate safety measures in place despite high probability of an incident occurring.

The Revere mental health clinic where Peabody caseworker Stephanie Moulton was stabbed in January as fined $7000.00 by OSHA for not having adequate safeguards against violence in place for employees at the clinic. OSHA cited the facility for “a serious violation of [OSHA’s] ‘general duty clause’ for failing to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause serious injury or death.”

Moulton, 24, died from her stab wound inflicted by a patient, 27-year-old Deshawn Chappell, after he fled the group home, taking her with him and then dumping her body behind a church in Lynn. Chappell, who had a history of violent behavior, attacked Moulton during a counseling session.

The fine is a piddling amount, but the damage done by the fine is much worse. Because the organization was directly fines by OSHA, that gives the victim’s family solid grounds for a lawsuit for negligence, and they can quote OSHA, that they “failed to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause injury or death”.

It will be interesting to see if a lawsuit develops, and if the organization puts stricter controls in place to protect staff members.

OSHA and the Joint Commission have reported for several years that violence against healthcare workers has steadily increased, and the Joint Commission even issued a Sentinel Event about the increase in violence.