Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act

This legislation mandates the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard focused on preventing workplace violence in the health care and social service sectors. Within one year, an interim final standard must be issued, followed by a final standard within 42 months, requiring covered employers to develop and implement comprehensive workplace violence prevention plans. These plans are designed to protect health care and social service workers from violence and must be based on existing OSHA guidelines. The required prevention plans must be developed with the meaningful participation of direct care employees and tailored to the specific conditions and hazards of each facility or service. Key components include conducting thorough risk assessments , implementing hazard prevention measures such as engineering and work practice controls, and establishing clear procedures for reporting, responding to, and investigating violent incidents. The standard also mandates protocols for emergency response, including threats of mass casualties or incidents involving weapons. Employers are obligated to provide annual training and education to employees on identified workplace violence hazards, prevention methods, reporting procedures, and their rights. Additional training is required for supervisors, new employees, and those whose job circumstances change. Comprehensive recordkeeping is a critical element, requiring employers to maintain violent incident logs for at least five years and submit annual summaries to the Secretary of Labor, alongside an annual evaluation of the plan's effectiveness. The bill broadly defines "covered facilities" to include various hospitals, residential treatment facilities, and community care settings, and "covered services" such as home health care and emergency services, while excluding private physician offices and child day care. Importantly, the legislation prohibits employers from discriminating or retaliating against employees for reporting workplace violence incidents or exercising their rights under the standard. Additionally, facilities receiving Medicare funds will be required to comply with this new workplace violence prevention standard.