The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act — sponsored by Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn. — passed the committee 26-18. The next step is a House floor vote.
Under the act, healthcare employers would be required to implement a violence prevention plan to protect employees. A standard requiring such prevention plans would be issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which would also oversee implementation of the plans.
The “vote is a big step forward in passing legislation that would hold our employers accountable, through federal OSHA, for having a prevention plan in place to stop workplace violence before it occurs — literally a life-or-death issue,” Jean Ross, RN, president of National Nurses United, said in a news release.
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