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Annual security assessments become California law (June 2010 issue)
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California, often the forerunner in compliance standards, may be leading the pack when it comes to security assessments.
In October 2009, the state revised California Health and Safety Code 1257.7, requiring hospitals to conduct security risk assessments annually and making failure to do so a crime. It took effect in January and requires that the first annual assessments begin no later than July 1, 2010, making some California hospitals scramble to perform a security assessment. CEOs or managers responsible for failure to comply could receive a criminal complaint. The law is a revision of AB 508, which passed in 1995.
Although it’s unlikely OSHA has the resources to check each and every hospital throughout the state and charge individuals with noncompliance, it is more likely that a criminal complaint will result from an incident that is reported to state authorities, who then may decide to bring the case to the district attorney, says Mark Mooring, MS, CPP, CHPA, founder of consulting firm Proper Authorities in Ventura, CA.
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