OSHA Confirms Signature Health Has Improved Employee Safety Following April Stabbing Incident
In April 2024, a patient of a Signature Health mental health treatment facility in Maple Heights, Ohio attacked a nurse practitioner, repeatedly stabbing the employee with a knife that the patient had brought into the facility.
The Maple Heights facility only had a single security guard, who, assisted by other members of the facility staff, was able to disarm the patient and stop the attack. As required by law, the workplace injury was reported to the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and an investigation was launched, which resulted in Signature Health being issued with a citation for a serious violation under the general duty clause of the OSH Act for failing to protect employees from workplace violence.
Signature Health entered into a settlement agreement and agreed to pay a penalty of $16,131 and take steps to improve its workplace violence prevention program. In the 6 months following the attack, Signature Health has implemented several measures at the Maple Health facility to improve employee safety.
Those measures include the installation of weapons detection equipment, the hiring of specialists to review its procedures, its workplace violence prevention program has been strengthened with updated weapon response and preparedness procedures, and it has established a position focused on workplace violence prevention and response. Employees have received further training, including on how objects other than weapons such as knives and guns can be used as weapons, workplace violence committees have been established, and additional signage has been erected stating that no weapons are permitted within its facilities. Signature Health said it will expand the program at its Maple Heights location to include all other Signature Health facilities.
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“Since this disturbing incident, Signature Health has worked diligently with OSHA to improve its safety programs and has enacted measures to reduce the likelihood of future incidents,” said OSHA Area Director Howard Eberts in Cleveland. “A comprehensive workplace violence prevention program requires screening procedures, effective employee training and immediate reviews of incidents and near-misses to address risks and ensure continual process improvement.”
