As healthcare workers continue to face the potential for workplace violence, lawmakers and hospital officials are intensifying their efforts to address the issue.
Earlier this month, lawmakers reintroduced two bills to protect workers.
One bill reintroduced April 18 would require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue a workplace violence prevention standard. The standard would require employers within the healthcare and social service sectors to develop and implement a workplace violence prevention plan, according to a section-by-section summary of the legislation.
In reintroducing the bill, Reps. Alma Adams and Joe Courtney, along with Sen. Tammy Baldwin, cited a fact sheet from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that healthcare and social service workers continue to face the highest rates of injuries caused by workplace violence of any industry. They also cited federal data showing that healthcare workers make up more than three-quarters of all workplace violence in the U.S.
"Healthcare and social service workers serve people from all walks of life. Unfortunately, they also face disproportionate rates of workplace violence," Ms. Adams, House Workforce Protections Subcommittee ranking member, said in a news release. "The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act sends the message that 'enough is enough' — setting a national standard that forces employers to take seriously the health and safety of American workers, especially those working on the front lines to combat the COVID-19 pandemic."
Another bill reintroduced April 13 by U.S. Reps. Madeleine Dean and Larry Bucshon, MD, is modeled after existing protections for aircraft and airport workers.
The Safety From Violence for Healthcare Employees Act would criminalize assault or intimidation of hospital employees, the lawmakers said in an April 19 news release. There would be protections for those who may be mentally incapacitated due to illness or substance use.
"Enhanced penalties for those who knowingly assault and intimidate hospital employees will deter further violence and ensure future offenders are given proper punishments for their crimes," Ms. Dean and Dr. Bucshon said in the release.
Most recently, on April 19, Kansas hospital officials and law enforcement organizations joined together to urge state lawmakers to approve legislation creating new crimes of interfering with a worker at a hospital, according to Kansas Reflector. The publication reported that the bill would be modeled on a comparable law protecting on-the-job emergency medical service employees, police and firefighters. The group also seeks an increased sentence for battery of a healthcare provider.
"Legislation sends a strong signal that we take this seriously," Alan Verrill, MD, president and CEO of AdventHealth South Overland Park (Kan.) said, according to Kansas Reflector. "If we choose not to, what signal does that send?"