Workplace violence prevention bill clears committee

The House Education and Labor Committee yesterday voted 27-20 to approve, as amended, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 1195). 

The legislation would require the Secretary of Labor to issue an interim final standard on workplace violence prevention that requires employers in the health care and social service sectors to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan based on guidelines published by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in 2015.  

In a letter to the committee this week, AHA said the nation’s hospitals and health systems “are committed to a culture of safety for every worker, patient and family member who enters our facilities. However, because hospitals have already implemented specifically tailored policies and programs to address workplace violence, we do not believe that the OSHA standards required by H.R. 1195 are warranted, nor do we support an expedited approach that would deny the public the opportunity to review and comment on proposed regulations.”