Federal workplace violence prevention bill introduced in Congress

By Chuleenan Svetvilas

National Nurse Magazine - April | May | June 2023 Issue

Health care is the most dangerous field of work due to workplace violence. In nationwide surveys conducted by National Nurses United (NNU), the majority of nurses (81.6 percent) reported having experienced at least one workplace violence incident in the past year. NNU members say this is unacceptable and strongly support passage of the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, officially introduced in Congress in April by Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Rep. Joe Courtney.

The bill (S.1176 in the Senate, H.R.2663 in the House), would mandate that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) create a federal standard requiring health care and social service employers to develop and implement comprehensive workplace violence prevention plans. This legislation is especially important given that health care and social service workers face extremely high rates of workplace violence.

A study published in 2021 reported on a survey of nurses, finding that nearly 85 percent of respondents said they experienced more than one type of workplace violence over the previous year. In NNU’s April 2022 survey, 48 percent of hospital nurses reported an increase in workplace violence, up from 30.6 percent in September 2021 and from 21.9 percent in March 2021.  

“Violence in our hospitals and clinics has reached epidemic levels,” said NNU President Deborah Burger, RN. “Nurses have been punched, kicked, bitten, and choked or threatened with extreme violence. Tragically, some nurses have even lost their lives after being attacked on the job. This is why we urgently need legislative action to hold our employers accountable, through federal OSHA, for having a prevention plan in place to stop workplace violence before it occurs.”  

“Our health care and social service workers deserve to work in a safe environment free from violence," said Sen. Tammy Baldwin. “It is unacceptable that our health care workers are subjected to senseless acts of violence in their workplace, and we must do more to protect them. I am proud to introduce this legislation to give our nurses, doctors, health care support staff, and social service professionals on the front lines with long-overdue basic protections, helping address our health care workforce shortage and keep our frontline heroes safe.”

“No worker — especially those we rely on for care — should be injured or killed on the job,” said Rep. Joe Courtney. “This legislation would put proven tactics into practice in hospitals and health care settings across the country to prevent violence before it happens. I’m grateful for the bipartisan coalition — backed by the support of the workers directly affected by this violence — who have worked tirelessly to move this legislation forward.”

“We greatly appreciate Sen. Baldwin and Rep. Courtney for introducing the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act to help protect us at work, so we can do our job of caring for you, your loved ones, and our communities,” said Burger. “Nurses and social service workers deserve a safe place to work. Going to work should not be a matter of life or death.”

The federal legislation is modeled after a groundbreaking California health care workplace violence standard that was the result of state legislation sponsored by California Nurses Association, an NNU affiliate.

The federal legislation includes the requirement that federal OSHA create a federal workplace violence prevention standard mandating that employers develop comprehensive, workplace-specific plans to prevent violence before it happens. It also covers a wide variety of workplaces, including hospitals, residential and psychiatric treatment facilities, federal health care facilities such as those operated by the Veterans Administration and the Indian Health Service, and more. 

The bill also sets a quick timeline on implementation and sets minimum requirements for the standard and for employers’ workplace violence prevention plans, based on California’s legislation. These requirements include unit-specific assessments and implementations of prevention measures, including making physical changes to the environment, staffing for patient care and security, employee involvement in all steps of the plan, hands-on training, robust record-keeping requirements (including a violent incident log), and protections for employees to report workplace violence to their employer and law enforcement, among other requirements.

Chuleenan Svetvilas is a communications specialist at National Nurses United.