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Public
Employee Press Workplace
violence rules take effect in August
City agencies have until the end of August to
put procedures in place to cut workplace violence.
New York State enacted
a new law requiring public employers to take preventive action against assaults
and homicides at work in 2006 after a strong DC 37 lobbying effort. The sad list
of injured and dead employees bears painful witness to the need for action, but
even after the law passed, opposition by the city administration stalled implementation.
Prevention
key to safety
The law requires
programs to prevent and minimize the hazard of workplace violence to public employees
in every agency. The employers must develop and implement written statements regarding
the goals of their program, provide for full employee and union representation,
post the statement and implement the policy.
Management and labor representatives
must evaluate each work location for potential risks of violence, and agencies
must study records and work sites to identify patterns of injuries in particular
areas or incidents involving specific operations. The written program must set
forth the methods the employer will use to prevent incidents, report hazards and
provide crisis counseling and training for employees.
Employers must develop
procedures for reporting possible criminal activity to police agencies and working
with district attorneys for prompt investigation and prosecution of such incidents.
No
employer may retaliate against an employee for exercising any right under the
law.
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