I’d like to thank the union CNA because when this came forward, I don’t know anyone who has represented their members any better. It wasn’t just the leadership, it was everyone—the stories you told, what you related to us. I can’t tell you how much of an impact it made on the board and on myself.” – Dave Thomas, Chair, California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board

Thanks to the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, California is enacting the nation’s strongest regulations to prevent workplace violence in healthcare settings.

In late October, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (OSHB) voted unanimously to approve the regulations, as required by a 2014 law, SB 1299, sponsored by CNA. SB 1299 was introduced by then-State Sen. Alex Padilla (the current California Secretary of State) on behalf of CNA and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. CNA members campaigned extensively to pass the law, and then worked with state officials on implementation of its requirements through the regulatory process.

“CNA nurses worked for years to achieve the passage of SB1299 and have continued to push for the development of these regulations, contributing their expertise at advisory committees and public hearings, and doing everything possible to ensure that healthcare workers get the protections they deserve,” noted Bonnie Castillo, RN, CNA/NNU’s Health and Safety Director upon approval of the regulations which go into effect in January, 2017.

Workers in the healthcare and social assistance industry face extremely high rates of workplace violence, say nurses. In 2014, 52 percent of all the incidents of workplace violence reported to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) occurred against workers in the healthcare and social assistance industry. From 2005 and 2014 rates of workplace violence incidents have increased 110 percent in private industry hospitals.

Perhaps the most important element of the bill, said CNA and NNU Co-President Deborah Burger, is that rather than just impose additional penalties on perpetrators of violence, many of whom many also be affected by inadequate mental health services, the focus is prevention – working to set in place proper staff training and mitigation factors to stop violence before it occurs.

The regulations define workplace violence broadly to encompass actual acts of violence, as well as the threat of violence; emphasize prevention over criminalization; and require employers to develop a comprehensive Workplace Violence Prevention Plan emphasizing prevention, training, and worker participation.