Health Care Work Place Violence Bill Gets Favorable Vote

Wednesday, April 06, 2016

GoLocalWorcester News Team

The Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security has voted in favor on an act requiring health care employers to develop and implement programs to prevent workplace violence, advancing legislation and boosting efforts to fight rampant violence against nurses and other health care workers throughout Massachusetts.

Every day patients and health care providers are increasingly put at risk by workplace violence. A hospital should be a place where patients go to heal and nurses and other health care professionals provide care in a safe environment. Positive movement on this bill is a step toward improving the safety of every hospital in Massachusetts,” said MNA Vice President Karen Coughlin, a registered nurse with the Department of Mental Health at Taunton State Hospital.

This legislation will require health care employers to perform an annual safety risk assessment and, based on those findings, develop and implement programs to minimize the danger of workplace violence to employees and patients.

“Violence in health care settings is on the rise. Nurses and other health care workers suffer violent assaults at a rate 12 times higher than other industries. This bill will require health care employers to annually perform a risk assessment and based on those findings develop and implement programs to minimize the danger of workplace violence to employees and patients," said Sen. Michael Brady.

Components to the Bill Include:

‧ Requires health care employers to perform annual risk assessments in cooperation with employees to identify factors which may put employees at risk for workplace violence

‧ Requires hospitals to look at factors like working hours, public access to the area, working in high-crime areas, staffing levels and other factors that affect safety

‧ Requires hospitals to then develop a written violence prevention plan and put measures in place to minimize risks

‧ Requires the creation of an in-house crisis response team to support victims of workplace violence

According to a recently published MNA survey of over 220 union and non-union nurses, over 85 percent have been punched, spit on, groped, kicked or otherwise physically or verbally assaulted.

However, only 19 percent say their employer was supportive and tried to find solutions after they experienced violence while 76 percent said existing workplace violence polices are not enforced.