Panel Upholds Workplace Violence Charge Against Florida Hospital

A workplace violence citation from OSHA against a Florida mental health hospital, Suncoast Behavioral Health Center, has been upheld by a federal judicial panel.

The two employers overseeing the hospital—UHS of Delaware Inc. and Premier Behavioral Health Solutions of Florida Inc.—failed to protect employees from numerous assaults, including patients punching, kicking, biting, scratching, and using “objects as weapons,” according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration citation.

Some of these attacks left employees with bruises, concussions, and in need of hospital care, according to court documents. OSHA inspected the hospital in November 2017 and issued the citation in April 2018. ...