Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 851 To direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard that requires covered employers within the health care and social service industries to develop and implement a comprehensive work- place violence prevention plan, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 14, 2019 Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Ms. WARREN, Mr. SCHATZ, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Workplace Violence 4 Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers 5 Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S851.IS S851 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 851 IS SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 2 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 3 PREVENTION STANDARD 4 SEC. 101. WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION STANDARD. 5 (a) INTERIM FINAL STANDARD.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 7 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 8 Labor shall promulgate an interim final standard on 9 workplace violence prevention— 10 (A) to require certain employers in the 11 health care and social service sectors, and cer- 12 tain employers in sectors that conduct activities 13 similar to the activities in the health care and 14 social service sectors, to develop and implement 15 a comprehensive workplace violence prevention 16 plan to protect health care workers, social serv- 17 ice workers, and other personnel from work- 18 place violence; and 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S851.IS S851 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 851 IS (B) that shall, at a minimum, be based on 1 the Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Vio- 2 lence for Healthcare and Social Service Work- 3 ers published by the Occupational Safety and 4 Health Administration of the Department of 5 Labor in 2015 and adhere to the requirements 6 of this title. 7 (2) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER STATUTORY RE- 8 QUIREMENTS.—The following shall not apply to the 9 promulgation of the interim final standard under 10 this subsection: 11 (A) The requirements applicable to occupa- 12 tional safety and health standards under section 13 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 14 of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655(b)). 15 (B) The requirements of chapters 5 and 6 16 of title 5, United States Code, and titles 2 and 17 42, United States Code. 18 (3) NOTICE AND COMMENT.—Notwithstanding 19 paragraph (2)(B), the Secretary shall, prior to pro- 20 mulgating the interim final standard under this sub- 21 section, provide notice of the interim final standard 22 and a 30-day opportunity for public comment. 23 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE OF INTERIM STAND- 24 ARD.—The interim final standard shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S851.IS S851 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 851 IS (A) take effect on a date that is not later 1 than 30 days after promulgation, except that 2 such interim final standard may include a rea- 3 sonable phase-in period for the implementation 4 of required engineering controls that take effect 5 after such date; 6 (B) be enforced in the same manner and 7 to the same extent as any standard promul- 8 gated under section 6(b) of the Occupational 9 Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 10 655(b)); and 11 (C) be in effect until the final standard de- 12 scribed in subsection (b) becomes effective and 13 enforceable. 14 (5) FAILURE TO PROMULGATE.—If an interim 15 final standard described in paragraph (1) is not pro- 16 mulgated not later than 1 year of the date of enact- 17 ment of this Act, the provisions of this title shall be 18 in effect and enforced in the same manner and to 19 the same extent as any standard promulgated under 20 section 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health 21 Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655(b)) until such provi- 22 sions are superseded in whole by an interim final 23 standard promulgated by the Secretary that meets 24 the requirements of paragraph (1). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S851.IS S851 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 851 IS (b) FINAL STANDARD.— 1 (1) PROPOSED FINAL STANDARD.—Not later 2 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, 3 the Secretary of Labor shall, pursuant to section 6 4 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 5 (29 U.S.C. 655), promulgate a proposed final stand- 6 ard on workplace violence prevention— 7 (A) for the purposes described in sub- 8 section (a)(1)(A); and 9 (B) that shall include, at a minimum, the 10 elements contained in the interim final standard 11 promulgated under subsection (a). 12 (2) FINAL STANDARD.—Not later than 42 13 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 14 Secretary shall promulgate a final standard on such 15 proposed standard that shall— 16 (A) provide no less protection than any 17 workplace violence standard adopted by a State 18 plan that has been approved by the Secretary 19 under section 18 of the Occupational Safety 20 and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 667); and 21 (B) be effective and enforceable in the 22 same manner and to the same extent as any 23 standard promulgated under section 6(b) of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S851.IS S851 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 851 IS Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 1 (29 U.S.C. 655(b)). 2 SEC. 102. SCOPE AND APPLICATION. 3 In this title: 4 (1) COVERED FACILITY.—The term ‘‘covered 5 facility’’ includes the following: 6 (A) Any hospital, including any specialty 7 hospital, in-patient or outpatient setting, or 8 clinic operating within a hospital license, or any 9 setting that provides outpatient services. 10 (B) Any residential treatment facility, in- 11 cluding any nursing home, skilled nursing facil- 12 ity, hospice facility, and long-term care facility. 13 (C) Any non-residential treatment or serv- 14 ice setting. 15 (D) Any medical treatment or social serv- 16 ice setting or clinic at a correctional or deten- 17 tion facility. 18 (E) Any community care setting, including 19 a community-based residential facility, group 20 home, and mental health clinic. 21 (F) Any psychiatric treatment facility. 22 (G) Any drug abuse or substance use dis- 23 order treatment center. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S851.IS S851 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 851 IS (H) Any independent freestanding emer- 1 gency centers. 2 (I) Any facility described in subparagraphs 3 (A) through (H) operated by a Federal Govern- 4 ment agency and required to comply with occu- 5 pational safety and health standards pursuant 6 to part 1960 of title 29, Code of Federal Regu- 7 lations (or any corresponding similar regula- 8 tions or rulings). 9 (J) Any other facility the Secretary deter- 10 mines should be covered under the standards 11 promulgated under section 101. 12 (2) COVERED SERVICES.—The term ‘‘covered 13 service’’ includes the following services and oper- 14 ations: 15 (A) Any services and operations provided 16 in any field work setting, including home health 17 care, home-based hospice, and home-based so- 18 cial work. 19 (B) Any emergency services and transport, 20 including such services provided by firefighters 21 and emergency responders. 22 (C) Any services described in subpara- 23 graphs (A) and (B) performed by a Federal 24 Government agency and required to comply 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S851.IS S851 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 851 IS with occupational safety and health standards 1 pursuant to part 1960 of title 29, Code of Fed- 2 eral Regulations (or any corresponding similar 3 regulations or rulings). 4 (D) Any other services and operations the 5 Secretary determines should be covered under 6 the standards promulgated under section 101. 7 (3) COVERED EMPLOYER.— 8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered em- 9 ployer’’ includes a person (including a con- 10 tractor, subcontractor, a temporary service 11 firm, or an employee leasing entity) that em- 12 ploys an individual to work at a covered facility 13 or to perform covered services. 14 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘covered em- 15 ployer’’ does not include an individual who pri- 16 vately employs, in the individual’s residence, a 17 person to perform covered services for the indi- 18 vidual or a family member of the individual. 19 (4) COVERED EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘covered 20 employee’’ includes an individual employed by a cov- 21 ered employer to work at a covered facility or to per- 22 form covered services. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S851.IS S851 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 851 IS SEC. 103. REQUIREMENTS FOR WORKPLACE VIOLENCE 1 PREVENTION STANDARD. 2 Each standard described in section 101 shall include, 3 at a minimum, the following requirements: 4 (1) WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION 5 PLAN.—Not later than 6 months after the date of 6 promulgation of the interim final standard under 7 section 101(a), a covered employer shall develop, im- 8 plement, and maintain an effective written workplace 9 violence prevention plan (referred to in this section 10 as a ‘‘Plan’’) for covered employees at each covered 11 facility and for covered employees performing a cov- 12 ered service on behalf of such employer, which meets 13 the following: 14 (A) PLAN DEVELOPMENT.—Each Plan 15 shall— 16 (i) be developed and implemented with 17 the meaningful participation of direct care 18 employees and, where applicable, employee 19 representatives and collective bargaining 20 representatives, for all aspects of the Plan; 21 (ii) be tailored and specific to condi- 22 tions and hazards for the covered facility 23 or the covered service, including patient- 24 specific risk factors and risk factors spe- 25 cific to each work area or unit; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S851.IS S851 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 851 IS (iii) be suitable for the size, com- 1 plexity, and type of operations at the cov- 2 ered facility or for the covered service, and 3 remain in effect at all times. 4 (B) PLAN CONTENT.—Each Plan shall in- 5 clude procedures and methods for the following: 6 (i) Identification of the individual re- 7 sponsible for implementation of the Plan. 8 (ii) With respect to each work area 9 and unit at the covered facility or while 10 covered employees are performing the cov- 11 ered service, risk assessment and identi- 12 fication of workplace violence risks and 13 hazards to employees exposed to such risks 14 and hazards (including environmental risk 15 factors and patient-specific risk factors), 16 which shall be— 17 (I) informed by past violent inci- 18 dents specific to such covered facility 19 or such covered service; and 20 (II) conducted with, at a min- 21 imum— 22 (aa) direct care employees; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S851.IS S851 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 851 IS (bb) where applicable, the 1 representatives of such employ- 2 ees; and 3 (cc) the employer. 4 (iii) Hazard prevention, engineering 5 controls, or work practice controls to cor- 6 rect hazards in a timely manner, applying 7 industrial hygiene principles of the hier- 8 archy of controls, which— 9 (I) may include security and 10 alarm systems, adequate exit routes, 11 monitoring systems, barrier protec- 12 tion, established areas for patients 13 and clients, lighting, entry procedures, 14 staffing and working in teams, and 15 systems to identify and flag clients 16 with a history of violence; and 17 (II) shall ensure that employers 18 correct, in a timely manner, hazards 19 identified in the annual report de- 20 scribed in paragraph (5). 21 (iv) Reporting, incident response, and 22 post-incident investigation procedures, in- 23 cluding procedures— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S851.IS S851 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 851 IS (I) for employees to report work- 1 place violence risks, hazards, and inci- 2 dents; 3 (II) for employers to respond to 4 reports of workplace violence; 5 (III) for employers to perform a 6 post-incident investigation and de- 7 briefing of all reports of workplace vi- 8 olence with the participation of em- 9 ployees and their representatives; and 10 (IV) to provide medical care or 11 first aid to affected employees. 12 (v) Procedures for emergency re- 13 sponse, including procedures for threats of 14 mass casualties and procedures for inci- 15 dents involving a firearm or a dangerous 16 weapon. 17 (vi) Procedures for communicating 18 with and training of covered employees on 19 workplace violence hazards, threats, and 20 work practice controls, the Plan, and pro- 21 cedures for confronting, responding to, and 22 reporting workplace violence threats, inci- 23 dents, and concerns, and employee rights. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S851.IS S851 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 851 IS (vii) Procedures for determining which 1 covered employer or employers shall be re- 2 sponsible for implementing and complying 3 with the provisions of the standard appli- 4 cable to the working conditions over which [Text truncated for display. 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