Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act

Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act

This bill requires the Department of Labor to address workplace violence in health care, social service, and other sectors.

Specifically, Labor must issue an interim occupational safety and health standard that requires certain employers to take actions to protect workers and other personnel from workplace violence. The standard applies to employers in the health care sector, in the social service sector, and in sectors that conduct activities similar to those in the health care and social service sectors.

In addition, Labor must promulgate a final standard within a specified time line.

Bill 118 s 1176, also known as the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, is a piece of legislation aimed at addressing the issue of workplace violence in the healthcare and social service industries. The bill was introduced in the Senate on April 11, 2019 by Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.

The main purpose of the bill is to require healthcare and social service employers to develop and implement workplace violence prevention plans to protect their employees from violence and harassment. These plans would include risk assessments, training programs, reporting mechanisms, and procedures for responding to incidents of violence.

The bill also requires the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue a standard that would require healthcare and social service employers to implement these workplace violence prevention plans. Additionally, the bill calls for increased data collection on workplace violence incidents in these industries in order to better understand the scope of the problem and develop effective prevention strategies. Overall, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act aims to improve the safety and well-being of employees in these high-risk industries by addressing the issue of workplace violence head-on. The bill has received bipartisan support and is currently pending further action in the Senate.