Nurses to Regulators: Move Forward with Proposed
Violence Prevention Regulations As Soon As Possible

 
With state regulators close to putting the final touches on rules to prevent workplace violence in hospitals, nurses from throughout California, members of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, will testify at the Cal/OSHA Standard's Board public hearing this Thursday in Sacramento, to urge regulators to pass the regulations as soon as possible.  
 
The new regulations are mandated by legislation, SB 1299, the Healthcare Workplace Violence Prevention Act, sponsored by CNA last year and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Thursday's public hearing on the proposed regulations marks the conclusion of a 45-day written comment period on the new regulations.  
 
What: Public hearing on proposed regulations for workplace violence prevention in healthcare settings - Occupational Safety and Standards Board, Cal/OSHA
When: Hearing from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Media Availability 9:15 a.m. in front of Auditorium
Where: Auditorium, State Resources Building, 1416 9th St., Sacramento, Ca.

"It is long past time to hold employers in the healthcare industry accountable for preventing and mitigating the risk of workplace violence. We support the proposed regulations because they implement and build upon the strong protections we fought so hard for in SB 1299," said Bonnie Castillo, RN, Associate Executive Director, National Nurses United." We urge speedy passage of these regulations, so that we can have comprehensive workplace violence plans in place as soon as possible. Every day we wait is a day that workers are at risk of physical violence, psychological harm, and even death," said Castillo, who is also the Director of RNRN, the Registered Nurse Response Network, a project of NNU.  
 
“I am proud to have authored SB 1299 and to have worked closely with the 86,000 registered nurses of CNA who sponsored the bill," said former State Senator and current Secretary of State, Alex Padilla. "This legislation was approved by the Legislature with bi-partisan support and requires Cal/OSHA to adopt standards requiring hospitals to establish workplace violence prevention plans to protect health care workers and other facility personnel from aggressive and violent behavior.”
 
The proposed regulations are very comprehensive in scope, covering healthcare workers in all health facilities, outpatient medical offices and clinics, home health care and home-based hospice, paramedic and emergency medical services, field operations such as mobile clinics and dispensing operations, drug treatment programs, medical outreach services, and other off-site operations, including retail outlets that are providing healthcare services.
 
The regulations define workplace violence broadly to encompass actual acts of violence as well as the threat of violence. The regulations require employers to develop a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan that emphasizes prevention and involves worker participation.
 
Among other things, that plan must include:

• Procedures to identify environmental and patient-specific risk-factors,
• Procedures to correct workplace violence hazards, including engineering and work practice controls such as implementing adequate staffing, removal of sight and communication barriers, provision of surveillance systems, use of a buddy system, reconfiguration of facility spaces, removal or securing of objects that may be used as improvised weapons, installation of alarm systems, and other effective means,
• Procedures for post-incident response and investigation, including providing individual trauma counseling to all employees affected by the incident,
• Employee involvement in the development, implementation, and review of the plan.

The regulations require employers to provide an initial training for all employees, which emphasizes preventative measures such as how to recognize the potential for violence, how to counteract factors that lead to the escalation of violence, how to seek assistance to prevent or respond to violence, and strategies to avoid physical harm. The regulations also require the employer to conduct an annual review of the Workplace Violence Prevention Plan and to correct any problems that are uncovered.
 
CNA sponsored SB 1299 in response to workplace violence as a serious occupational hazard for RNs and other health care workers. Other NNU affiliates are campaigning for similar legislation across the country, as seen in recent hearings in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a worker in health care and social assistance is nearly five times more likely to be the victim of a nonfatal assault or violent act by another person, than the average worker in all other major industries combined. In 2007, nearly 60% of all nonfatal assaults and violent acts by persons occurred in the health care and social assistance industry. A 2007 report commissioned by the National Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health found that nurses are at particularly high risk, with the highest rate of victimization among occupations in the healthcare industry.

NNU/National Nurses United is the largest organization of registered nurses in the United States with 186,000 members in all 50 states​.