According to estimates from the U.S. Department of Justice, about:
50 workers a day are sexually assaulted or raped on the job.
But OSHA doesn’t have any official standards for preventing workplace violence of any kind, sexual or not.
(conversation between KQED and Jordan Barab, deputy assistant secretary of labor for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.) “So if someone is raped at work, is that considered an unsafe work environment?” “Well, clearly, it’s an unsafe environment if someone is raped at work,” says Barab. But when I ask him whether OSHA has ever taken on a case involving rape in the workplace, he says, “Not that I’m aware of.”
An recent article outlined how those working alone at night in Janitorial roles can be targets for sexual assault, yet there have been no cases brought by OSHA.
In the State of California regulators are now developing new rules and guidelines but it’s unclear if this will provide direct remedy in situations such as these.
GuardianMPS can assist organizations to form a robust stance on protecting night workers, even in areas where costs have been prohibitive by:
- Offering workers the ability to check in/out of assignments and where available provide GPS location of their whereabouts.
- Offering organizations an end to end monitored panic system on existing or worker-owned cellphones/smartphones – eliminating cost barriers for budget conscious departments.
- Providing full recording of any incidents to allow appropriate response either from another team member or emergency services.
- Post attacks, our detailed records of worker rosters, audio data from checking in and escalated panic incidents (and much much more) can offer concerned and affected companies a means to comprehensively assist the Police and Judicial systems to enforce the law.
The full article can be read at the link below. https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/06/23/whats-the-government-doing-to-prevent-janitors-from-getting-raped/
To find out how GuardianMPS is helping organizations to provide safe work environments when out in the field, talk to us and tell us how we can help.
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