H.R. 1309, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act: What People Are Saying

H.R. 1309, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act,  is a bipartisan proposal to protect health care and social workers from workplace violence by forcing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue a standard requiring employers to implement violence prevention plans, which are proven to reduce workplace violence.

Here’s what health care providers, worker safety advocates, and labor unions are saying about H.R. 1309:

American College of Emergency Physicians: “On behalf of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and our 38,000 members, thank you for introducing H.R. 1309, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act.  ACEP appreciates your leadership to help establish procedures to ensure that emergency physicians, health care workers, social workers, and patients, are protected from violence in the workplace.  Violence in the emergency room is a serious and growing concern, causing significant stress to emergency department staff and to patients who seek treatment in the emergency department.  According to a survey conducted by ACEP in 2018, nearly half of emergency physicians polled reported being physically assaulted, with more than 60 percent of those occurring in the past year.  Nearly 7 in 10 emergency physicians say emergency department violence has increased in the past 5 years.  … Most importantly, patients with medical emergencies deserve high-quality care in a place free of physical dangers from other patients or individuals, and care from staff that is not distracted by individuals with behavioral or substance-induced violent behavior.”

American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM): “On behalf of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM), I am writing in support of your legislation – H.R.1309, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act. ACOEM is a national medical society representing over 4,000 occupational medicine physicians and other health care professionals devoted to preventing and managing occupational injuries. Within ACOEM, there is a large special interest section dedicated to Medical Center Occupational Health, focusing on the particular exposure and injury hazards faced by nurses, doctors, and other healthcare personnel. Many of our members practice in medical centers and have first-hand experience with workplace violence where they practice. Physicians and other health care professionals across the US are increasingly alarmed at the high rates of serious injury due to workplace violence within the health care professions. Workers in healthcare, and social service, settings are at the highest risk of violence on the job because of their direct contact with patients and client care, experiencing the highest rate of serious injury due to workplace violence at a rate of 13.7 per 10,000 workers, compared with 2.9 for all workers. ACOEM supports directing OSHA to establish a standard requiring health care and social service employers to write and implement a workplace violence prevention plan to prevent and protect employees from violent incidents in the workplace. An enforceable OSHA standard is needed to prevent foreseeable, serious and life- altering violence against workers in hospitals, medical clinics, nursing homes, and social service settings. We cannot turn a blind eye to the heightened risk of workplace violence physicians, nurses and other health professionals face on a day-to-day basis. Congress should seize this opportunity to help encourage workplaces to adopt proven prevention techniques to prepare them for responding to violent incidents.”

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME): “The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 1309) is needed and important legislation.  It would require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue a federal workplace violence prevention standard.  This federal standard would require employers in the health care and social service sectors to develop and implement a plan to protect workers from workplace violence.  By requiring that the prevention plans be tailored to the specific workplace and employee population, the legislation addresses a very dangerous myth that workplace violence is essentially random, unpredictable, and therefore, not preventable.  There is a degree of uncertainty but workplace violence, in both health care and social service assistance settings, has clear patterns and identifiable risk factors.  The bill ensures that front line workers have a seat at the table as employers identify and implement controls such as training, personal alarm devices, surveillance and monitoring systems, or other evidence-based practices to keep workers safe.”

American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP): “The American Society of Safety Professionals encourages bipartisan support of H.R. 1309, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act.  A Government Accountability Office study reported that there are 730,000 cases of healthcare workplace assaults over the 5-year span from 2009 through 2013.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that healthcare and social service sector employees suffered 69 percent of all workplace violence injuries caused by persons in 2016 and are nearly 5 times as likely to suffer a workplace injury than workers overall. … As noted in ASSP’s 2016 comments to OSHA, we believe that a workplace violence prevention standard is feasible and that there are measures employers can use to reduce a significant risk of material harm. … ASSP condemns all forms of violence in the workplace and is particularly concerned with the rise of injuries associated with violence in the healthcare and social service industry sectors, targeted by the pending federal legislation.  ASSP supports congressional efforts to eliminate workplace violence and encourages OSHA to promulgate an enforceable and effective standard, accompanied by comprehensive education and research.”

Emergency Nurses Association: “The Emergency Nurses Association strongly supports the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act of 2019.  Workplace violence against health care workers, like emergency nurses, is a national crisis.  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found that although workers in the health care sector accounted for only 20% of workplace injuries, they make up about 50% of all victims of workplace assault.  Between 2002 and 2013, serious incidents of workplace violence were four times more common for workers in the health care sector than for all other workers in the U.S. … There is not national standard in place aimed at preventing and responding to workplace violence in health care facilities.  The development of a national standard relating to workplace violence in health care would ensure that employers assess factors such as the physical security of their facilities, staffing issues related to security, training for employees on mitigating and responding to violence, and support for workers when they are assaulted.  A national standard would ensure that all health care employers take similar steps to protect their workers from violence and support them when assaults do occur.”

National Association of Social Workers: “We are writing today to encourage your boss to vote to approve H.R. 1309, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act … This bipartisan legislation if instrumental in promoting safer working conditions for millions of social workers, nurses, and other similar professionals who experience unacceptably high levels of violence on the job. … As you may know, health care and social service workers are nearly five times more likely to be assaulted at work than other professionals, and the rate of violence is growing.  Between 2007 and 2017, the rate of violence injuries grew by 123% in hospitals, 201% in psychiatric hospitals and substance use treatment facilities, and 28% in social service settings.  The costs of this violence are high:  in injury rates, in professionals being driven from doing the work they love, in workers’ compensation claims and staff shortages.  Workplace violence is also highly problematic for patients.  Safe environments are healing environments.”

National Nurses United (NNU): “National Nurses United supports H.R. 1309, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act of 2019.  NNU, representing over 155,000 members across the country, is the largest union and professional association representing registered nurses (“RNs”) in the United States.  With members who work as bedside professionals in every state in the nation, NNU understands that workplace violence has become endemic for RNs and other workers in healthcare and social service settings. The risk of workplace violence is a serious occupational hazard for RNs and other health care workers.  The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 1309) would mandate that OSHA promulgate an interim final standard on workforce violence prevention for health care workers within one year and a final rule within 42 months.  Importantly, this bill would set the minimum requirements for the OSHA standard, based on proven standards that have been implemented in California and on the published literature.”

United Steelworkers: “On behalf of the 850,000 members of the United Steelworkers (USW), I encourage support for the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 1309).  Incidents of workplace violence in health care and social service settings have been on the rise for over a decade.  Despite voluntary guidance issued by the Occupational and Health Administration (OSHA) nearly 15 years ago, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that incidents of workplace violence in the health care and social services sectors have increased by 69 percent over the last 10 years.  It is clear that workers need more than voluntary guidance to protect them against violence at work.  They need an enforceable OSHA standard to prevent workplace violence and ensure the safe working environment that they all deserve.  H.R. 1309 would compel OSHA to issue a workplace violence prevention standard that requires health care and social services employers to develop and implement comprehensive plans to protect workers from violence in the workplace.  The requirements are based on existing guidelines and recommendations from OSHA, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), industry associations, and state measures, ensuring that there are workplace-specific plans in place to protect workers.  Violent, life-changing incidents should never be part of the job.  In order to curb this epidemic of preventable workplace violence, workers need an enforceable OSHA standard that addresses violence in the workplace in a comprehensive manner.”

Other endorsing organizations include: AFL-CIO, American Industrial Hygiene Association, Alliance for Retired Americans, American Art Therapy Association, American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work, American Counseling Association, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Teachers, American Nurses Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychiatric Nurses Association, American Public Health Association, Coalition of Labor Union Women of Southwestern P.A., Communications Workers of America, Connecticut Association of Nurse Anesthetists, ElevatingHOME, International Association of Fire Fighters, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Massachusetts Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Midstate Education and Service Foundation, National Association of County Behavioral Health & Development Disability Directors, National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, National Association of Rural Mental Health, National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, New York Nurses Association, Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Safety and Health, Public Citizen, Rhode Island Committee on Occupational Safety and Health, School Social Work Association of America, Service Employees International Union, Smart Transportation, Teamsters, United Auto Workers, Worksafe