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News Release USDL: 96-266
Thursday, July 5, 1996
Contact: Susan Hall Fleming (202) 219-8151

In response to requests from stakeholders, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is extending to Sept. 30 the deadline for public comments on its draft "Guidelines for Workplace Violence Prevention Programs for Night Retail Establishments."

OSHA issued the draft guidelines on April 5. Workplace violence is the number one cause of occupational fatalities for working women and the number two cause for men. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about half the 1,071 workplace homicides in 1994 took place during robberies of retail establishments.

The guidelines address the six risk factors for workplace homicide that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) identified in 1993. Those factors, all of which are usually present in night retail establishments, include:

* Exchange of money with the public,
* Working alone or in small numbers,
* Working late at night or during early morning hours,
* Working in high-crime areas,
* Guarding valuable property or possessions, and
* Working in community settings.

With its draft, OSHA is offering both policy recommendations and practical suggestions employers can use to prevent attacks on employees in the workplace. According to the draft, a workplace violence prevention program should include the elements of any good safety and health program: management commitment and employee involvement, worksite analysis, hazard prevention and control and training and education.

OSHA intends the guidelines to be advisory in nature and informational in content and is seeking public comments to develop effective recommendations for the night retail industry. In March, the agency issued final violence prevention guidelines for the health care and social service industries where nearly two-thirds of nonfatal assaults occur.

Copies of the draft document are available on the Internet at http://www.osha.gov under "What's New." Single printed copies are available by mail, to requestors who send a self-addressed label to OSHA Publications, P.O. Box 37535, Washington, D.C. 20013-7535, telephone (202) 219-4667, fax (202) 219-9266.

Comments should be sent, no later than Sept. 30, 1996, to Patricia D. Biles, Workplace Violence Program Coordinator, Department of Labor/OSHA, Room N3107, 200 Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210.