Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act

116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1309 AN ACT To direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard that requires covered employ- ers within the health care and social service industries to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 2 •HR 1309 EH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Workplace Violence 2 Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers 3 Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 5 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 6 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. TITLE I—WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION STANDARD Sec. 101. Workplace violence prevention standard. Sec. 102. Scope and application. Sec. 103. Requirements for workplace violence prevention standard. Sec. 104. Rules of construction. Sec. 105. Other definitions. TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT Sec. 201. Application of the workplace violence prevention standard to certain facilities receiving Medicare funds. TITLE I—WORKPLACE VIOLENCE 7 PREVENTION STANDARD 8 SEC. 101. WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION STANDARD. 9 (a) INTERIM FINAL STANDARD.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 11 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 12 Labor shall promulgate an interim final standard on 13 workplace violence prevention— 14 (A) to require certain employers in the 15 health care and social service sectors, and cer- 16 tain employers in sectors that conduct activities 17 similar to the activities in the health care and 18 social service sectors, to develop and implement 19 3 •HR 1309 EH a comprehensive workplace violence prevention 1 plan to protect health care workers, social serv- 2 ice workers, and other personnel from work- 3 place violence; 4 (B) that shall, at a minimum, be based on 5 the Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Vio- 6 lence for Health care and Social Service Work- 7 ers published by the Occupational Safety and 8 Health Administration of the Department of 9 Labor in 2015 and adhere to the requirements 10 of this title; and 11 (C) that provides for a period determined 12 appropriate by the Secretary, not to exceed 1 13 year, during which the Secretary shall prioritize 14 technical assistance and advice consistent with 15 section 21(d) of the Occupational Safety and 16 Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 670(d)) to em- 17 ployers subject to the standard with respect to 18 compliance with the standard. 19 (2) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER STATUTORY RE- 20 QUIREMENTS.—The following shall not apply to the 21 promulgation of the interim final standard under 22 this subsection: 23 (A) The requirements applicable to occupa- 24 tional safety and health standards under section 25 4 •HR 1309 EH 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1 of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655(b)). 2 (B) The requirements of chapters 5 and 6 3 of title 5, United States Code, and titles 2 and 4 42, United States Code. 5 (3) NOTICE AND COMMENT.—Notwithstanding 6 paragraph (2)(B), the Secretary shall, prior to pro- 7 mulgating the interim final standard under this sub- 8 section, provide notice in the Federal Register of the 9 interim final standard and a 30-day period for pub- 10 lic comment. 11 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE OF INTERIM STAND- 12 ARD.—The interim final standard shall— 13 (A) take effect on a date that is not later 14 than 30 days after promulgation, except that 15 such interim final standard may include a rea- 16 sonable phase-in period for the implementation 17 of required engineering controls that take effect 18 after such date; 19 (B) be enforced in the same manner and 20 to the same extent as any standard promul- 21 gated under section 6(b) of the Occupational 22 Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 23 655(b)); and 24 5 •HR 1309 EH (C) be in effect until the final standard de- 1 scribed in subsection (b) becomes effective and 2 enforceable. 3 (5) FAILURE TO PROMULGATE.—If an interim 4 final standard described in paragraph (1) is not pro- 5 mulgated not later than 1 year of the date of enact- 6 ment of this Act, the provisions of this title shall be 7 in effect and enforced in the same manner and to 8 the same extent as any standard promulgated under 9 section 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health 10 Act (29 U.S.C. 655(b)) until such provisions are su- 11 perseded in whole by an interim final standard pro- 12 mulgated by the Secretary that meets the require- 13 ments of paragraph (1). 14 (b) FINAL STANDARD.— 15 (1) PROPOSED STANDARD.—Not later than 2 16 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 17 Secretary of Labor shall, pursuant to section 6 of 18 the Occupational Safety and Health Act (29 U.S.C. 19 655), promulgate a proposed standard on workplace 20 violence prevention— 21 (A) for the purposes described in sub- 22 section (a)(1)(A); and 23 6 •HR 1309 EH (B) that shall include, at a minimum, the 1 elements contained in the interim final standard 2 promulgated under subsection (a). 3 (2) FINAL STANDARD.—Not later than 42 4 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 5 Secretary shall promulgate a final standard on such 6 proposed standard that shall— 7 (A) provide no less protection than any 8 workplace violence standard adopted by a State 9 plan that has been approved by the Secretary 10 under section 18 of the Occupational Safety 11 and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 667); and 12 (B) be effective and enforceable in the 13 same manner and to the same extent as any 14 standard promulgated under section 6(b) of the 15 Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 16 (29 U.S.C. 655(b)). 17 SEC. 102. SCOPE AND APPLICATION. 18 In this title: 19 (1) COVERED FACILITY.— 20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered fa- 21 cility’’ includes the following: 22 (i) Any hospital, including any spe- 23 cialty hospital, in-patient or outpatient set- 24 ting, or clinic operating within a hospital 25 7 •HR 1309 EH license, or any setting that provides out- 1 patient services. 2 (ii) Any residential treatment facility, 3 including any nursing home, skilled nurs- 4 ing facility, hospice facility, and long-term 5 care facility. 6 (iii) Any non-residential treatment or 7 service setting. 8 (iv) Any medical treatment or social 9 service setting or clinic at a correctional or 10 detention facility. 11 (v) Any community care setting, in- 12 cluding a community-based residential fa- 13 cility, group home, and mental health clin- 14 ic. 15 (vi) Any psychiatric treatment facility. 16 (vii) Any drug abuse or substance use 17 disorder treatment center. 18 (viii) Any independent freestanding 19 emergency centers. 20 (ix) Any facility described in clauses 21 (i) through (viii) operated by a Federal 22 Government agency and required to comply 23 with occupational safety and health stand- 24 ards pursuant to section 1960 of title 29, 25 8 •HR 1309 EH Code of Federal Regulations (as such sec- 1 tion is in effect on the date of enactment 2 of this Act). 3 (x) Any other facility the Secretary 4 determines should be covered under the 5 standards promulgated under section 101. 6 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘covered facil- 7 ity’’ does not include an office of a physician, 8 dentist, podiatrist, or any other health practi- 9 tioner that is not physically located within a 10 covered facility described in clauses (i) through 11 (x) of subparagraph (A). 12 (2) COVERED SERVICES.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered 14 service’’ includes the following services and op- 15 erations: 16 (i) Any services and operations pro- 17 vided in any field work setting, including 18 home health care, home-based hospice, and 19 home-based social work. 20 (ii) Any emergency services and trans- 21 port, including such services provided by 22 firefighters and emergency responders. 23 (iii) Any services described in clauses 24 (i) and (ii) performed by a Federal Gov- 25 9 •HR 1309 EH ernment agency and required to comply 1 with occupational safety and health stand- 2 ards pursuant to section 1960 of title 29, 3 Code of Federal Regulations (as such sec- 4 tion is in effect on the date of enactment 5 of this Act). 6 (iv) Any other services and operations 7 the Secretary determines should be covered 8 under the standards promulgated under 9 section 101. 10 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘covered serv- 11 ice’’ does not include child day care services. 12 (3) COVERED EMPLOYER.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered em- 14 ployer’’ includes a person (including a con- 15 tractor, subcontractor, a temporary service 16 firm, or an employee leasing entity) that em- 17 ploys an individual to work at a covered facility 18 or to perform covered services. 19 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘covered em- 20 ployer’’ does not include an individual who pri- 21 vately employs, in the individual’s residence, a 22 person to perform covered services for the indi- 23 vidual or a family member of the individual. 24 10 •HR 1309 EH (4) COVERED EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘covered 1 employee’’ includes an individual employed by a cov- 2 ered employer to work at a covered facility or to per- 3 form covered services. 4 SEC. 103. REQUIREMENTS FOR WORKPLACE VIOLENCE 5 PREVENTION STANDARD. 6 Each standard described in section 101 shall include, 7 at a minimum, the following requirements: 8 (1) WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION 9 PLAN.—Not later than 6 months after the date of 10 promulgation of the interim final standard under 11 section 101(a), a covered employer shall develop, im- 12 plement, and maintain an effective written workplace 13 violence prevention plan for covered employees at 14 each covered facility and for covered employees per- 15 forming a covered service on behalf of such em- 16 ployer, which meets the following: 17 (A) PLAN DEVELOPMENT.—Each Plan 18 shall— 19 (i) be developed and implemented with 20 the meaningful participation of direct care 21 employees, other employees, and employee 22 representatives, for all aspects of the Plan; 23 (ii) be tailored and specific to condi- 24 tions and hazards for the covered facility 25 11 •HR 1309 EH or the covered service, including patient- 1 specific risk factors and risk factors spe- 2 cific to each work area or unit; and 3 (iii) be suitable for the size, com- 4 plexity, and type of operations at the cov- 5 ered facility or for the covered service, and 6 remain in effect at all times. 7 (B) PLAN CONTENT.—Each Plan shall in- 8 clude procedures and methods for the following: 9 (i) Identification of the individual re- 10 sponsible for implementation of the Plan. 11 (ii) With respect to each work area 12 and unit at the covered facility or while 13 covered employees are performing the cov- 14 ered service, risk assessment and identi- 15 fication of workplace violence risks and 16 hazards to employees exposed to such risks 17 and hazards (including environmental risk 18 factors and patient-specific risk factors), 19 which shall be— 20 (I) informed by past violent inci- 21 dents specific to such covered facility 22 or such covered service; and 23 (II) conducted with, at a min- 24 imum— 25 12 •HR 1309 EH (aa) direct care employees; 1 (bb) where applicable, the 2 representatives of such employ- 3 ees; and 4 (cc) the employer. 5 (iii) Hazard prevention, engineering 6 controls, or work practice controls to cor- 7 rect hazards, in a timely manner, applying 8 industrial hygiene principles of the hier- 9 archy of controls, which— 10 (I) may include security and 11 alarm systems, adequate exit routes, 12 monitoring systems, barrier protec- 13 tion, established areas for patients 14 and clients, lighting, entry procedures, 15 staffing and working in teams, and 16 systems to identify and flag clients 17 with a history of violence; and 18 (II) shall ensure that employers 19 correct, in a timely manner, hazards 20 identified in any violent incident in- 21 vestigation described in paragraph (2) 22 and any annual report described in 23 paragraph (5). 24 13 •HR 1309 EH (iv) Reporting, incident response, and 1 post-incident investigation procedures, in- 2 cluding procedures— 3 (I) for employees to report work- 4 place violence risks, hazards, and inci- 5 dents; 6 (II) for employers to respond to 7 reports of workplace violence; 8 (III) for employers to perform a 9 post-incident investigation and de- 10 briefing of all reports of workplace vi- 11 olence with the participation of em- 12 ployees and their representatives; 13 (IV) to provide medical care or 14 first aid to affected employees; and 15 (V) to provide employees with in- 16 formation about available trauma and 17 related counseling. 18 (v) Procedures for emergency re- 19 sponse, including procedures for threats of 20 mass casualties and procedures for inci- 21 dents involving a firearm or a dangerous 22 weapon. 23 (vi) Procedures for communicating 24 with and training the covered employees on 25 14 •HR 1309 EH workplace violence hazards, threats, and 1 work practice controls, the employer’s plan, 2 and procedures for confronting, responding 3 to, and reporting workplace violence 4 threats, incidents, and concerns, and em- 5 ployee rights. 6 (vii) Procedures for— 7 (I) ensuring the coordination of 8 risk assessment efforts, Plan develop- 9 ment, and implementation of the Plan 10 with other employers who have em- 11 ployees who work at the covered facil- 12 ity or who are performing the covered 13 service; and 14 (II) determining which covered 15 employer or covered employers shall 16 be responsible for implementing and 17 complying with the provisions of the 18 standard applicable to the working 19 conditions over which such employers 20 have control. 21 (viii) Procedures for conducting the 22 annual evaluation under paragraph (6). 23 (C) AVAILABILITY OF PLAN.— 24 15 •HR 1309 EH (i) IN GENERAL.—Each Plan shall 1 be— 2 (I) made available at all times to 3 the covered employees who are cov- 4 ered under such Plan; and 5 (II) to the extent possible, 6 emailed to each such employee upon 7 completion of the employee’s annual 8 training under paragraph (3)(A). 9 (ii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Noth- 10 ing in this subparagraph shall be construed 11 to serve in lieu of training or any other re- 12 quirements under this Act. 13 (2) VIOLENT INCIDENT INVESTIGATION.— 14 (A) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable 15 after a workplace violence incident, risk, or haz- 16 ard of which a covered employer has knowledge, 17 the employer shall conduct an investigation of 18 such incident, risk, or hazard under which the 19 employer shall— 20 (i) review the circumstances of the in- 21 cident, risk, or hazard, and whether any 22 controls or measures implemented pursu [Text truncated for display. 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