Regulators probe patient assault on Napa State Hospital worker

California workplace safety regulators said they have opened an investigation into a patient assault on a Napa State Hospital psychiatric technician.

The employee was wearing a personal alarm on a lanyard around his neck, as required, when a patient punched him Wednesday evening and then grabbed the lanyard from both sides and attempted to choke him, according to a hospital incident report. The employee was treated at a local emergency room and released.

The assault occurred a day after the rollout of the much-anticipated alarm system, devised in the wake of the October 2010 strangulation death of employee Donna Gross.

Although Napa employees have said they are generally pleased with the system, which transmits and receives data through wireless tags, they have raised concerns about having to wear lanyards around their necks. On Thursday, Department of State Hospitals Deputy Director Kathy Gaither said all employees will soon have the option of wearing the alarm on a belt-loop clip instead.

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health cited and fined Napa State Hospital $100,000 after Gross’ death, citing among other things a faulty alarm system that did not function on the fenced hospital grounds where she was killed.

The Department of State Hospitals has appealed those citations, along with one issued by Cal/OSHA against other state mental hospitals, but is working with regulators to mitigate workplace hazards, officials say.

After reviewing reports of Wednesday’s assault — allegedly committed by a male patient who has been deemed incompetent to stand trial in a criminal proceeding — Cal/OSHA regulators opted to open an investigation into the incident, agency spokeswoman Erika Monterroza said Friday.

A separate Cal/OSHA investigation of a May assault on a Napa staff member that resulted in a broken ankle is pending, Monterroza said.

lee.romney@latimes.com