OSHA fines Acadia Hospital
Federal safety officials have fined The Acadia Hospital in Bangor $11,700 for failing to provide a safe working environment for employees and improperly documenting workplace injuries.
The fine from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is the result of an investigation launched in July at the psychiatric hospital after an employee complained of increases in staff members being injured by patients. OSHA's report found that "serious" violations of safe workplace standards resulted in at least 115 assaults on staff by violent patients since January 2008, and that the hospital did not adequately report injuries, including those that resulted in lost work time, the Bangor Daily News reported. The report orders the hospital to implement procedures to better protect staff, including screening patients for violent tendencies and offering more staff training on how to use physical restraints, though it did not specifically order the hospital to use them.
A hospital spokesman said the report shows that The Acadia Hospital maintains adequate staffing levels, and that its no-restraining policy "was not related to staff injuries or assaults."
Go to the article from the Bangor Daily News >>
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