Circles of Care, a mental health facility company in Melbourne, Florida, has been fined $101,397 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) following the third known patient attack on an employee since 2020. The citation and notification of penalty with the proposed fine were posted in May, six months after a patient used a metal hole punch to strike a mental health technician at a nurse’s workstation, causing injuries to the head, face, hands, and arms. The technician was hospitalized and Circles of Care was also cited for failing to report the incident within 24 hours. Another worker suffered a cut hand while attempting to help the injured employee.
In another incident that occurred on June 1st, 2022 at another Circles of Care facility just over a mile away from the first incident, the company settled for $7,000 instead of $14,502 as originally fined. Despite previous incidents including one where a former patient shot an employee dead in December 2020 while leaving work and another where two patients attacked two different employees in March 5th incident that prompted safety investigation by Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Circles of Care was not fined when OSHA investigated these incidents.
OSHA Area Office Director Erin Sanchez expressed her shock at Circles of Care’s reluctance to protect its employees from recognized danger of patient assault. She emphasized that these attacks can cause serious harm and even lead to fatalities. Repeated attempts by Miami Herald to contact Circles of Care for a response were unsuccessful. Online records indicate that OSHA initiated safety investigation following March 5th incident and complaints about workplace safety can be filed online with OSHA by calling 800-321-6742 or visiting your local OSHA office in person.
