Public Hearing on

"Proposed Standard on Workplace Safety and Security in the Public Sector throughout New York State"

Testimony of Judi Costa, RN

on behalf of the New York State Public Employees Federation

AFL-CIO

June 23, 2003

    Our society depends upon these staff to provide these services but does not, in return, take the necessary steps to ensure their personal safety. Why?

    My experience has shown that safety is not a priority in the work place, and secondly, management feels that it costs too much money to implement the necessary safety measures to protect employees. Would anyone expect a police officer to go out and perform her job without a gun, nightstick, bulletproof vest, stun gun or mace? No, of course not. Yet, these same police officers bring dangerous people into the psychiatric emergency room, leaving them in the care of nurses and lab technicians who are unarmed and unprotected. My psychiatric emergency room is staffed with 3 middle-aged women nurses and 2 female therapy aids with no protective equipment. In order to address our concerns, after three people were very badly assaulted and injured, the department added a security guard 3 years ago. However, she was not issued any protective equipment. Keep in mind that these patients are mentally ill, addicted to drugs, murderers, rapists, pedophiles and other sex offenders. When we are having difficulty restraining a patient, there isn't an adequate response unit in place. The radio system is inadequate and cannot be relied upon to call for assistance due to "dead spots" in the signal transmission. Therefore, we must phone EMS technicians for assistance; provided they are in-house and not out on a call. If you are thinking, surely the physicians on duty will assist the nurses, think again. Physicians were instructed by the department chair not to assist in these situations because they are too valuable to risk injury. The security guard is required to leave the psychiatric emergency room periodically when helicopters deliver new patients. We are told this is due to the importance of maintaining public safety. However, her post is not covered by other security guards in the hospital. They are not permitted to leave their stations to respond to an emergency in the psychiatric emergency room.

    Approximately 3 years ago, a safety committee was established because 3 staff members were seriously injured in the emergency room. The committee lasted for 3 months, most of its recommendations were not acted upon, and nothing more was ever mentioned again about the continued violence and safety issues in the psychiatric emergency room.

    One of my colleagues, who will testify, is Diane Schrader. Diane has been terminated from her job as a result of her assault related injuries. The cost to her and the other injured workers in pain and suffering and lost wages and lost careers is severe. The financial burden to employers may include improvements such as upgrading inadequate radio systems, hiring more staff, training workers on how to avoid workplace violence, and maintaining a functioning health and safety committee. These costs are small in comparison to workers’ compensation costs resulting from injuries, the disruptions to the clinical environment, and the personal costs to injured workers. Too often we are given the excuses that it costs too much, it's not in the budget, and it's part of your job. Do these excuses justify nurses and other staff sustaining life-threatening injuries or being injured to the point that they must leave the nursing profession? What will happen to patients when nurses decide that their safety comes first and they leave nursing? I am no longer able to perform my duties as a nurse-I have suffered a great personal loss as well---my body is broken through no fault of my own.

    Please act now to make sure that the Commissioner of Labor addresses the tremendous need for an enforceable standard on workplace safety and security for public employees in New York State. Thank you.