We write to petition the Department of Labor to promulgate a comprehensive workplace violence prevention standard to protect all workers in healthcare and social service settings under Section 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Overwhelming evidence demonstrates that every day, workers in these sectors face threats and assaults that are preventable, many suffering severe, often career-ending, injuries.

Workplace violence remains a serious, significant and worsening problem. Workers are brutally attacked every day. These attacks should not be viewed as “just part of the job”; they are preventable. We therefore petition the Department of Labor for a workplace violence standard to protect all workers in the large and growing healthcare and social services sectors.