General Assembly Raised Bill No. 970
January Session, 2011 LCO No. 3453
*03453_______PH_*
Referred to Committee on Public Health
Introduced by:
(PH)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 970
January Session, 2011
LCO No. 3453
*03453_______PH_*
Referred to Committee on Public Health
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT CONCERNING WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND RESPONSE IN HEALTH CARE SETTINGS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2011) (a) As used in this section and sections 2 to 4, inclusive, of this act:
(1) "Health care employer" means any institution, as defined in section 19a-490 of the general statutes, with fifty or more full or part-time employees and includes a facility for the care or treatment of mentally ill persons or persons with substance abuse issues, a residential facility for persons with intellectual disability licensed pursuant to section 17a-227 of the general statutes, and a community health center, as defined in section 19a-490a of the general statutes; and
(2) "Health care employee" means any individual employed by a health care employer.
(b) Each health care employer shall immediately establish and convene an ongoing workplace safety committee to address issues related to worker health and safety. A health care employer's workplace safety committee shall be comprised of representatives from the administration, physician, nursing and other direct patient care staff, security personnel and any other staff deemed appropriate by those appointing the committee membership. Not less than fifty per cent of the committee membership shall be comprised of non-management employees, who shall be appointed by the employees' respective bargaining unit representatives, when applicable, or by the employer's designee in cases when no bargaining unit exists. Each health care employer shall designate one or more persons who shall be responsible for appointing the committee membership other than those members appointed by employee bargaining units as provided for in this subsection. The committee shall select chairpersons from among its membership. The committee shall meet not less than quarterly and shall make available meeting minutes and other records from its proceedings to all employees.
(c) On and after October 1, 2011, and annually thereafter, each health care employer shall undertake a risk assessment of all factors, which may put any health care employee at risk for being a victim of workplace violence, including the possibility of being a victim of an assault or homicide. The assessment shall be undertaken in cooperation with health care employees, the workplace safety committee and any labor organization representing health care employees of the health care employer. The risk assessment shall give due consideration to factors that include, but are not be limited to: (1) The physical attributes of the facility including access control, egress control, door locks, lighting and alarm systems; (2) whether employees are working in public settings; (3) security requirements that involve guarding or maintaining property or possessions; (4) whether the facility is located in a statistically high-crime area; (5) whether employees work in areas where medications are stored or money is kept; (6) late night or early morning work hours; (7) whether employees work alone or in small numbers; (8) whether there is uncontrolled public access to the workplace; and (9) whether employees are working in areas where people are in crisis, where patients or residents exhibit violent or erratic behavior, or where there is a staffing pattern that is insufficient to address foreseeable risk factors.
(d) Based on the findings of the risk assessment undertaken pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, on or before January 1, 2012, and on or before each January first thereafter, each health care employer, in collaboration with the workplace safety committee, shall develop and implement a written workplace violence prevention and response plan. The plan shall identify factors which may endanger and are present with respect to each employee; a description of the methods that the health care employer shall use to alleviate hazards associated with each factor, including any required changes in job design, staffing, security, equipment or facilities; and a description of the employer's workplace violence reporting and monitoring system. The plan shall include appropriate health care employee training and a system for the ongoing reporting and monitoring of incidents and situations involving workplace violence or the risk of violence. Each health care employer shall develop an annual employee public safety training program and new employee orientation that includes instruction on: (1) The filing of reports with appropriate public safety officials, bodies or agencies, as necessary; (2) the process for the filing of criminal charges, when necessary; and (3) all public safety policies enacted by the health care employer. The workplace violence prevention and response plan shall be available to all health care employees, provided to an individual health care employee upon request and provided to any labor organization representing health care employees at the facility. In developing the plan, the health care employer may consider any guidelines on workplace violence in health care settings issued by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Department of Public Health, the Labor Department and hospital accrediting organizations.
(e) No health care employer may penalize or otherwise retaliate against a health care employee in any way as a result of such employee's filing of a complaint or report as provided for in subsection (d) of this section.
(f) No health care employer shall require a health care employee to treat or provide services to a patient who the employer knows to have verbally or physically abused or threatened the employee.
(g) The Labor Commissioner shall adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes necessary to carry out the purposes of this section, including, but not limited to, regulations related to workplace violence reporting and monitoring systems and health care employer training programs.
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2011) A health care employer shall report any act which may constitute an assault or related offense as described in part V of chapter 952 of the general statutes, or any act that involves the use of a firearm, as defined in section 53a-3 of the general statutes, or other dangerous instrument, as defined in section 53a-3 of the general statutes, against a health care employee acting in the performance of his or her duties, to such employer's local law enforcement agency and to the Department of Public Health not later than twenty-four hours after the occurrence of the act.
Sec. 3. Section 53a-167c of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2011):
(a) A person is guilty of assault of public safety, emergency medical, [or] public transit or health care personnel when, with intent to prevent a reasonably identifiable peace officer, special policeman appointed under section 29-18b, motor vehicle inspector designated under section 14-8 and certified pursuant to section 7-294d, firefighter or employee of an emergency medical service organization, as defined in section 53a-3, emergency room physician or nurse, health care employee as defined in section 1 of this act, employee of the Department of Correction, member or employee of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, probation officer, employee of the Judicial Branch assigned to provide pretrial secure detention and programming services to juveniles accused of the commission of a delinquent act, employee of the Department of Children and Families assigned to provide direct services to children and youths in the care or custody of the department, employee of a municipal police department assigned to provide security at the police department's lockup and holding facility, active individual member of a volunteer canine search and rescue team, as defined in section 5-249, or public transit employee from performing his or her duties, and while such peace officer, special policeman, motor vehicle inspector, firefighter, employee, physician, nurse, member, probation officer or active individual member is acting in the performance of his or her duties, (1) such person causes physical injury to such peace officer, special policeman, motor vehicle inspector, firefighter, employee, physician, nurse, member, probation officer or active individual member, or (2) such person throws or hurls, or causes to be thrown or hurled, any rock, bottle, can or other article, object or missile of any kind capable of causing physical harm, damage or injury, at such peace officer, special policeman, motor vehicle inspector, firefighter, employee, physician, nurse, member, probation officer or active individual member, or (3) such person uses or causes to be used any mace, tear gas or any like or similar deleterious agent against such peace officer, special policeman, motor vehicle inspector, firefighter, employee, physician, nurse, member, probation officer or active individual member, or (4) such person throws or hurls, or causes to be thrown or hurled, any paint, dye or other like or similar staining, discoloring or coloring agent or any type of offensive or noxious liquid, agent or substance at such peace officer, special policeman, motor vehicle inspector, firefighter, employee, physician, nurse, member, probation officer or active individual member, or (5) such person throws or hurls, or causes to be thrown or hurled, any bodily fluid including, but not limited to, urine, feces, blood or saliva at such peace officer, special policeman, motor vehicle inspector, firefighter, employee, physician, nurse, member, probation officer or active individual member. For the purposes of this section, "public transit employee" means a person employed by the state, a political subdivision of the state, a transit district formed under chapter 103a or a person with whom the Commissioner of Transportation has contracted in accordance with section 13b-34 to provide transportation services who operates a vehicle or vessel providing public rail service, ferry service or fixed route bus service or performs duties directly related to the operation of such vehicle or vessel.
(b) Assault of public safety, emergency medical, [or] public transit or health care personnel is a class C felony. If any person who is confined in an institution or facility of the Department of Correction is sentenced to a term of imprisonment for assault of an employee of the Department of Correction under this section, such term shall run consecutively to the term for which the person was serving at the time of the assault.
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2011) On or before January 1, 2013, and annually thereafter, the Department of Public Health shall report in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health, labor and public employees and the judiciary on the incidents of workplace violence reported by health care employers to the department. The department shall also make such report available to the public on the department's web site.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2011 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2011 New section
Sec. 3 October 1, 2011 53a-167c
Sec. 4 October 1, 2011 New section
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
July 1, 2011
New section
Sec. 2
October 1, 2011
New section
Sec. 3
October 1, 2011
53a-167c
Sec. 4
October 1, 2011
New section
Statement of Purpose:
To: (1) Require health care employers to develop and implement plans and training programs related to workplace violence prevention and response, (2) require health care employers to report on incidents of workplace violence to the local law enforcement agencies and the Department of Public Health, (3) establish criminal penalties for assault of a health care employee, and (4) require the Department of Public Health to report to the General Assembly and the public at large on incidents of workplace violence.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]