I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 2531
To direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health
standard that requires covered employers within the health care and
social service industries to develop and implement a comprehensive work-
place violence prevention plan, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL1, 2025
Mr. C
OURTNEY(for himself, Mr. BACON, Mr. SCOTTof Virginia, Mr.
F
ITZPATRICK, Ms. OMAR, and Ms. ADAMS) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and
in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Ways and
Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational
safety and health standard that requires covered employ-
ers within the health care and social service industries
to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace
violence prevention plan, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
•HR 2531 IH
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Workplace Violence 2
Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers 3
Act’’. 4
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 5
The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 6
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
TITLE I—WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION STANDARD
Sec. 101. Workplace violence prevention standard.
Sec. 102. Scope and application.
Sec. 103. Requirements for workplace violence prevention standard.
Sec. 104. Rules of construction.
Sec. 105. Other definitions.
TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT
Sec. 201. Application of the workplace violence prevention standard to certain
facilities receiving Medicare funds.
TITLE I—WORKPLACE VIOLENCE 7
PREVENTION STANDARD 8
SEC. 101. WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION STANDARD. 9
(a) I
NTERIMFINALSTANDARD.— 10
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 11
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 12
Labor shall issue an interim final standard on work-13
place violence prevention— 14
(A) to require certain employers in the 15
health care and social service sectors, and cer-16
tain employers in sectors that conduct activities 17
similar to the activities in the health care and 18
social service sectors, to develop and implement 19
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
•HR 2531 IH
a comprehensive workplace violence prevention 1
plan and carry out other activities or require-2
ments described in section 103 to protect health 3
care workers, social service workers, and other 4
personnel from workplace violence; 5
(B) that shall, at a minimum, be based on 6
the Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Vio-7
lence for Healthcare and Social Service Work-8
ers published by the Occupational Safety and 9
Health Administration of the Department of 10
Labor in 2015 and adhere to the requirements 11
of this title; and 12
(C) that provides for a period determined 13
appropriate by the Secretary, not to exceed 1 14
year, during which the Secretary shall prioritize 15
technical assistance and advice consistent with 16
section 21(d) of the Occupational Safety and 17
Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 670(d)) to em-18
ployers subject to the standard with respect to 19
compliance with the standard. 20
(2) I
NAPPLICABLE PROVISIONS OF LAW AND 21
EXECUTIVE ORDER.—The following provisions of law 22
and Executive orders shall not apply to the issuance 23
of the interim final standard under this subsection: 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4
•HR 2531 IH
(A) The requirements applicable to occupa-1
tional safety and health standards under section 2
6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 3
of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655(b)). 4
(B) The requirements of chapters 5 and 6 5
of title 5, United States Code. 6
(C) Subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, 7
United States Code (commonly referred to as 8
the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction Act’’). 9
(D) Executive Order No. 12866 (58 Fed. 10
Reg. 51735; relating to regulatory planning and 11
review), as amended. 12
(3) N
OTICE AND COMMENT .—Notwithstanding 13
paragraph (2)(B), the Secretary shall, prior to 14
issuing the interim final standard under this sub-15
section, provide notice in the Federal Register of the 16
interim final standard and a 30-day period for pub-17
lic comment. 18
(4) E
FFECTIVE DATE OF INTERIM STAND -19
ARD.—The interim final standard shall— 20
(A) take effect on a date that is not later 21
than 30 days after issuance, except that such 22
interim final standard may include a reasonable 23
phase-in period for the implementation of re-24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5
•HR 2531 IH
quired engineering controls that take effect 1
after such date; 2
(B) be enforced in the same manner and 3
to the same extent as any standard promul-4
gated under section 6(b) of the Occupational 5
Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 6
655(b)); and 7
(C) be in effect until the final standard de-8
scribed in subsection (b) becomes effective and 9
enforceable. 10
(5) F
AILURE TO PROMULGATE .—If an interim 11
final standard described in paragraph (1) is not 12
issued not later than 1 year of the date of enactment 13
of this Act, the provisions of this title shall be in ef-14
fect and enforced in the same manner and to the 15
same extent as any standard promulgated under sec-16
tion 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 17
(29 U.S.C. 655(b)) until such provisions are super-18
seded in whole by an interim final standard issued 19
by the Secretary that meets the requirements of 20
paragraph (1). 21
(b) F
INALSTANDARD.— 22
(1) P
ROPOSED STANDARD .—Not later than 2 23
years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 24
Secretary of Labor shall, pursuant to section 6 of 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6
•HR 2531 IH
the Occupational Safety and Health Act (29 U.S.C. 1
655), promulgate a proposed standard on workplace 2
violence prevention— 3
(A) for the purposes described in sub-4
section (a)(1)(A); and 5
(B) that shall include, at a minimum, re-6
quirements contained in the interim final stand-7
ard promulgated under subsection (a). 8
(2) F
INAL STANDARD.—Not later than 42 9
months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 10
Secretary shall issue a final standard on such pro-11
posed standard that shall— 12
(A) provide no less protection than any 13
workplace violence standard adopted by a State 14
plan that has been approved by the Secretary 15
under section 18 of the Occupational Safety 16
and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 667), pro-17
vided the Secretary finds that the final stand-18
ard is feasible on the basis of the best available 19
evidence; and 20
(B) be effective and enforceable in the 21
same manner and to the same extent as any 22
standard promulgated under section 6(b) of the 23
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 24
(29 U.S.C. 655(b)). 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7
•HR 2531 IH
SEC. 102. SCOPE AND APPLICATION. 1
In this title: 2
(1) C
OVERED FACILITY.— 3
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered fa-4
cility’’ includes the following: 5
(i) Any hospital, including any spe-6
cialty hospital, in-patient or outpatient set-7
ting, or clinic operating within a hospital 8
license, or any setting that provides out-9
patient services. 10
(ii) Any residential treatment facility, 11
including any nursing home, skilled nurs-12
ing facility, hospice facility, Alzheimer’s 13
and memory care facility, and long-term 14
care facility. 15
(iii) Any non-residential treatment or 16
service setting. 17
(iv) Any medical treatment or social 18
service setting or clinic at a correctional or 19
detention facility. 20
(v) Any community care setting, in-21
cluding a community-based residential fa-22
cility, group home, and mental health clin-23
ic. 24
(vi) Any psychiatric treatment facility. 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8
•HR 2531 IH
(vii) Any drug abuse or substance use 1
disorder treatment center. 2
(viii) Any independent freestanding 3
emergency centers. 4
(ix) Any facility described in clauses 5
(i) through (viii) operated by a Federal 6
Government agency and required to comply 7
with occupational safety and health stand-8
ards pursuant to section 1960 of title 29, 9
Code of Federal Regulations (as such sec-10
tion is in effect on the date of enactment 11
of this Act). 12
(x) Any other facility the Secretary 13
determines should be covered under the 14
standards promulgated under section 101. 15
(B) E
XCLUSION.—The term ‘‘covered facil-16
ity’’ does not include an office of a physician, 17
dentist, podiatrist, or any other health practi-18
tioner that is not physically located within a 19
covered facility described in clauses (i) through 20
(x) of subparagraph (A). 21
(2) C
OVERED SERVICES.— 22
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered 23
service’’ includes the following services and op-24
erations: 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9
•HR 2531 IH
(i) Any services and operations pro-1
vided in any field work setting, including 2
home health care, home-based hospice, and 3
home-based social work. 4
(ii) Any emergency services and trans-5
port, including such services provided by 6
firefighters and emergency responders. 7
(iii) Any services described in clauses 8
(i) and (ii) performed by a Federal Gov-9
ernment agency and required to comply 10
with occupational safety and health stand-11
ards pursuant to section 1960 of title 29, 12
Code of Federal Regulations (as such sec-13
tion is in effect on the date of enactment 14
of this Act). 15
(iv) Any other services and operations 16
the Secretary determines should be covered 17
under the standards promulgated under 18
section 101. 19
(B) E
XCLUSION.—The term ‘‘covered serv-20
ice’’ does not include child day care services. 21
(3) C
OVERED EMPLOYER .— 22
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered em-23
ployer’’ includes a person (including a con-24
tractor, subcontractor, a temporary service 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10
•HR 2531 IH
firm, or an employee leasing entity) that em-1
ploys an individual to work at a covered facility 2
or to perform covered services. 3
(B) E
XCLUSION.—The term ‘‘covered em-4
ployer’’ does not include an individual who pri-5
vately employs, in the individual’s residence, a 6
person to perform covered services for the indi-7
vidual or a family member of the individual. 8
(4) C
OVERED EMPLOYEE .—The term ‘‘covered 9
employee’’ includes an individual employed by a cov-10
ered employer to work at a covered facility or to per-11
form covered services. 12
SEC. 103. REQUIREMENTS FOR WORKPLACE VIOLENCE 13
PREVENTION STANDARD. 14
Each standard described in section 101 shall include, 15
at a minimum, the following requirements: 16
(1) W
ORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION 17
PLAN.—Not later than 6 months after the date of 18
promulgation of the interim final standard under 19
section 101(a), a covered employer shall develop, im-20
plement, and maintain an effective written workplace 21
violence prevention plan (in this section referred to 22
as the ‘‘Plan’’) for covered employees at each cov-23
ered facility and for covered employees performing a 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11
•HR 2531 IH
covered service on behalf of such employer, which 1
meets the following: 2
(A) P
LAN DEVELOPMENT .—Each Plan— 3
(i) shall be developed and imple-4
mented with the meaningful participation 5
of direct care employees, other employees, 6
and employee representatives, for all as-7
pects of the Plan; 8
(ii) shall be tailored and specific to 9
conditions and hazards for the covered fa-10
cility or the covered service, including pa-11
tient-specific risk factors and risk factors 12
specific to each work area or unit; 13
(iii) shall be suitable for the size, com-14
plexity, and type of operations at the cov-15
ered facility or for the covered service, and 16
remain in effect at all times; and 17
(iv) may be in consultation with stake-18
holders or experts who specialize in work-19
place violence prevention, emergency re-20
sponse, or other related areas of expertise 21
for all relevant aspects of the Plan. 22
(B) P
LAN CONTENT.—Each Plan shall in-23
clude procedures and methods for the following: 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12
•HR 2531 IH
(i) Identification of the individual and 1
the individual’s position responsible for im-2
plementation of the Plan. 3
(ii) With respect to each work area 4
and unit at the covered facility or while 5
covered employees are performing the cov-6
ered service, risk assessment and identi-7
fication of workplace violence risks and 8
hazards to employees exposed to such risks 9
and hazards (including environmental risk 10
factors and patient-specific risk factors), 11
which shall be— 12
(I) informed by past violent inci-13
dents specific to such covered facility 14
or such covered service; and 15
(II) conducted with, at a min-16
imum— 17
(aa) direct care employees; 18
(bb) where applicable, the 19
representatives of such employ-20
ees; and 21
(cc) the employer. 22
(iii) Hazard prevention, engineering 23
controls, or work practice controls to cor-24
rect hazards, in a timely manner, applying 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 13
•HR 2531 IH
industrial hygiene principles of the hier-1
archy of controls, which— 2
(I) may include security and 3
alarm systems, adequate exit routes, 4
monitoring systems, barrier protec-5
tion, established areas for patients 6
and clients, lighting, entry procedures, 7
staffing and working in teams, and 8
systems to identify and flag clients 9
with a history of violence; and 10
(II) shall ensure that employers 11
correct, in a timely manner, hazards 12
identified in any violent incident in-13
vestigation described in paragraph (2) 14
and any annual report described in 15
paragraph (5). 16
(iv) Reporting, incident response, and 17
post-incident investigation procedures, in-18
cluding procedures— 19
(I) for employees to report work-20
place violence risks, hazards, and inci-21
dents; 22
(II) for employers to respond to 23
reports of workplace violence; 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 14
•HR 2531 IH
(III) for employers to perform a 1
post-incident investigation and de-2
briefing of all reports of workplace vi-3
olence with the participation of em-4
ployees and their representatives; 5
(IV) to provide medical care or 6
first aid to affected employees; and 7
(V) to provide employees with in-8
formation about available trauma and 9
related counseling. 10
(v) Procedures for emergency re-11
sponse, including procedures for threats of 12
mass casualties and procedures for inci-13
dents involving a firearm or a dangerous 14
weapon. 15
(vi) Procedures for communicating 16
with and training the covered employees on 17
workplace violence hazards, threats, and 18
work practice controls, the employer’s plan, 19
and procedures for confronting, responding 20
to, and reporting workplace violence 21
threats, incidents, and concerns, and em-22
ployee rights. 23
(vii) Procedures for— 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 15
•HR 2531 IH
(I) ensuring the coordination of 1
risk assessment efforts, Plan develop-2
ment, and implementation of the Plan 3
with other employers who have em-4
ployees who work at the covered facil-5
ity or who are performing the covered 6
service; and 7
(II) determining which covered 8
employer or covered employers shall 9
be responsible for implementing and 10
complying with the provisions of the 11
standard applicable to the working 12
conditions over which such employers 13
have control. 14
(viii) Procedures for conducting the 15
annual evaluation under paragraph (6). 16
(C) A
VAILABILITY OF PLAN.—Each Plan 17
shall be made available at all times to the cov-18
ered employees who are covered under such 19
Plan. 20
(2) V
IOLENT INCIDENT INVESTIGATION .— 21
(A) I
N GENERAL.—As soon as practicable 22
after a workplace violence incident, risk, or haz-23
ard of which a covered employer has knowledge, 24
the employer shall conduct an investigation of 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 16
•HR 2531 IH
such incident, risk, or hazard under which the 1
employer shall— 2
(i) review the circumstances of the in-3
cident, risk, or hazard, and whether any 4
controls or measures implemented pursu-5
ant to the Plan of the employer were effec-6
tive; and 7
(ii) solicit input from involved employ-8
ees, their representatives, and supervisors 9
about the cause of the incident, risk, or 10
hazard, and whether further corrective 11
measures (including system-level factors) 12
could have prevented the incident, risk, or 13
hazard. 14
(B) D
OCUMENTATION.—A covered em-15
ployer shall document the findings, rec-16
ommendations, and corrective measures taken 17
for each investigation conducted under this 18
paragraph. 19
(3) T
RAINING AND EDUCATION .—With respect 20
to the covered employees covered under a Plan of a 21
covered employer, the employer shall provide train-22
ing and education to such employees who may be ex-23
posed to workplace violence hazards and risks, which 24
meet the following requirements: 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 17
•HR 2531 IH
(A) Annual training and education shall 1
include information on the Plan, including iden-2
tified workplace violence hazards, work practice 3
control measures, reporting procedures, record 4
keeping requirements, response procedures, 5
anti-retaliation policies, and employee rights. 6
(B) Additional hazard recognition training 7
shall be provided for supervisors and managers 8
to ensure they— 9
(i) can recognize high-risk situations; 10
and 11
(ii) do not assign employees to situa-12
tions that predictably compromise the safe-13
ty of such employees. 14
(C) Additional training shall be provided 15
for each such covered employee whose job cir-16
cumstances have changed, within a reasonable 17
timeframe after such change. 18
(D) Additional training shall be provided 19
for each such covered employee whose job cir-20
cumstances require working with victims of tor-21
ture, trafficking, or domestic violence. 22
(E) Applicable training shall be provided 23
under this paragraph for each new covered em-24
ployee prior to the employee’s job assignment. 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 18
•HR 2531 IH
(F) All training shall provide such employ-1
ees opportunities to ask questions, give feed-2
back on training, and request additional in-3
struction, clarification, or other followup. 4
(G) All training shall be provided in-person 5
and by an individual with knowledge of work-6
place violence prevention and of the Plan, ex-7
cept that any annual training described in sub-8
paragraph (A) provided to an employee after 9
the first year such training is provided to such 10
employee may be conducted by live video if in- 11
person training is impracticable. 12
(H) All training shall be appropriate in 13
content and vocabulary to the language, edu-14
cational level, and literacy of such covered em-15
ployees. 16
(4) R
ECORDKEEPING AND ACCESS TO PLAN 17
RECORDS.— 18
(A) I
N GENERAL.—Each covered employer 19
shall— 20
(i) maintain for not less than 5 21
years— 22
(I) records related to each Plan 23
of the employer, including workplace 24
violence risk and hazard assessments, 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 19
•HR 2531 IH
and identification, evaluation, correc-1
tion, and training procedures; 2
(II) a violent incident log de-3
scribed in subparagraph (B) for re-4
cording all workplace violence inci-5
dents; and 6
(III) records of all incident inves-7
tigations as required under paragraph 8
(2)(B); and 9
(ii)(I) make such records and logs 10
available, upon request, to covered employ-11
ees and their representatives for examina-12
tion and copying in accordance with sec-13
tion 1910.1020 of title 29, Code of Federal 14
Regulations (as such section is in effect on 15
the date of enactment of this Act), and in 16
a manner consistent with HIPAA privacy 17
regulations (defined in section 1180(b)(3) 18
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 19
1320d–9(b)(3))) and part 2 of title 42, 20
Code of Federal Regulations (as such part 21
is in effect on the date of enactment of this 22
Act); and 23
(II) ensure that any such records and 24
logs that may be copied, transmitted elec-25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 20
•HR 2531 IH
tronically, or otherwise removed from the 1
employer’s control for purposes of this 2
clause omit any element of personal identi-3
fying information sufficient to allow identi-4
fication of any patient, resident, client, or 5
other individual alleged to have committed 6
a violent incident (including the individ-7
ual’s name, address, electronic mail ad-8
dress, telephone number, or social security 9
number, or other information that, alone 10
or in combination with other publicly avail-11
able information, reveals such individual’s 12
identity). 13
(B) V
IOLENT INCIDENT LOG DESCRIP -14
TION.—Each violent incident log shall— 15
(i) be maintained by a covered em-16
ployer for each covered facility controlled 17
by the employer and for each covered serv-18
ice being performed by a covered employee 19
on behalf of such employer; 20
(ii) be based on a template developed 21
by the Secretary not later than 1 year 22
after the date of enactment of this Act; 23
(iii) include, at a minimum, a descrip-24
tion of— 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 21
•HR 2531 IH
(I) the violent incident (including 1
environmental risk factors present at 2
the time of the incident); 3
(II) the date, time, and location 4
of the incident, and the names and 5
job titles of involved employees; 6
(III) the nature and extent of in-7
juries to covered employees; 8
(IV) a classification of the perpe-9
trator who committed the violence, in-10
cluding whether the perpetrator was— 11
(aa) a patient, client, resi-12
dent, or customer of a covered 13
employer; 14
(bb) a family member or 15
friend of a patient, client, resi-16
dent, or customer of a covered 17
employer; 18
(cc) a stranger; 19
(dd) a coworker, supervisor, 20
or manager of a covered em-21
ployee; 22
(ee) a partner, spouse, par-23
ent, or relative of a covered em-24
ployee; or 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 22
•HR 2531 IH
(ff) any other appropriate 1
classification; 2
(V) the type of violent incident 3
(such as type 1 violence, type 2 vio-4
lence, type 3 violence, or type 4 vio-5
lence); and 6
(VI) how the incident was 7
abated; 8
(iv) not later than 7 days after the 9
employer learns of such incident, contain a 10
record of each violent incident, which is 11
updated to ensure completeness of such 12
record; 13
(v) be maintained for not less than 5 14
years; and 15
(vi) in the case of a violent incident 16
involving a privacy concern case, protect 17
the identity of employees in a manner con-18
sistent with section 1904.29(b) of title 29, 19
Code of Federal Regulations (as such sec-20
tion is in effect on the date of enactment 21
of this Act). 22
(C) A
NNUAL SUMMARY.— 23
(i) C
OVERED EMPLOYERS .—Each cov-24
ered employer shall prepare and submit to 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 23
•HR 2531 IH
the Secretary an annual summary of each 1
violent incident log for the preceding cal-2
endar year that shall— 3
(I) with respect to each covered 4
facility, and each covered service, for 5
which such a log has been maintained, 6
include— 7
(aa) the total number of vio-8
lent incidents; 9
(bb) the number of record-10
able injuries related to such inci-11
dents; and 12
(cc) the total number of 13
hours worked by the covered em-14
ployees for such preceding year; 15
(II) be completed on a form pro-16
vided by the Secretary; 17
(III) be posted for 3 months be-18
ginning February 1 of each year in a 19
manner consistent with the require-20
ments of section 1904 of title 29, 21
Code of Federal Regulations (as such 22
section is in effect on the date of en-23
actment of this Act), relating to the 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 24
•HR 2531 IH
posting of summaries of injury and ill-1
ness logs; 2
(IV) be located in a conspicuous 3
place or places where notices to em-4
ployees are customarily posted; and 5
(V) not be altered, defaced, or 6
covered by other material. 7
(ii) S
ECRETARY.—Not later than 1 8
year after the promulgation of the interim 9
final standard under section 101(a), the 10
Secretary shall make available a platform 11
for the electronic submission of annual 12
summaries required under this subpara-13
graph. 14
(5) A
NNUAL REPORT.— 15
(A) R
EPORT TO SECRETARY .—Not later 16
than February 15 of each year, each covered 17
employer shall report to the Secretary, on a 18
form provided by the Secretary, the frequency, 19
quantity, and severity of workplace violence, 20
and any incident response and post-incident in-21
vestigation (including abatement measures) for 22
the incidents set forth in the annual summary 23
of the violent incident log described in para-24
graph (4)(C). The contents of the report of the 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 25
•HR 2531 IH
Secretary to Congress shall not disclose any 1
confidential information. 2
(B) R
EPORT TO CONGRESS .—Not later 3
than 6 months after February 15 of each year, 4
the Secretary shall submit to Congress a sum-5
mary of the reports received under subpara-6
graph (A). 7
(6) A
NNUAL EVALUATION .—Each covered em-8
ployer shall conduct an annual written evaluation, 9
conducted with the full, active participation of cov-10
ered employees and employee representatives, of— 11
(A) the implementation and effectiveness 12
of the Plan, including a review of the violent in-13
cident log; and 14
(B) compliance with training required by 15
each standard described in section 101, and 16
specified in the Plan. 17
(7) P
LAN UPDATES.—Each covered employer 18
shall incorporate changes to the Plan, in a manner 19
consistent with paragraph (1)(A)(i) and based on 20
findings from the most recent annual evaluation con-21
ducted under paragraph (6), as appropriate. 22
(8) A
NTI-RETALIATION.— 23
(A) P
OLICY.—Each covered employer shall 24
adopt a policy prohibiting any person (including 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 26
•HR 2531 IH
an agent of the employer) from the discrimina-1
tion or retaliation described in subparagraph 2
(B). 3
(B) P
ROHIBITION.—No covered employer 4
shall discriminate or retaliate against any em-5
ployee for— 6
(i) reporting a workplace violence inci-7
dent, threat, or concern to, or seeking as-8
sistance or intervention with respect to 9
such incident, threat, or concern from, the 10
employer, law enforcement, local emer-11
gency services, or a local, State, or Federal 12
government agency; or 13
(ii) exercising any other rights under 14
this paragraph. 15
(C) E
NFORCEMENT.—This paragraph shall 16
be enforced in the same manner and to the 17
same extent as any standard promulgated 18
under section 6(b) of the Occupational Safety 19
and Health Act (29 U.S.C. 655(b)). 20
SEC. 104. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 21
Notwithstanding section 18 of the Occupational Safe-22
ty and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 667)— 23
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 27
•HR 2531 IH
(1) nothing in this title shall be construed to 1
curtail or limit authority of the Secretary under any 2
other provision of the law; 3
(2) the rights, privileges, or remedies of covered 4
employees shall be in addition to the rights, privi-5
leges, or remedies provided under any Federal or 6
State law, or any collective bargaining agreement; 7
(3) nothing in this Act shall be construed to 8
limit or prevent health care workers, social service 9
workers, and other personnel from reporting violent 10
incidents to appropriate law enforcement; and 11
(4) nothing in this Act shall be construed to 12
limit or diminish any protections in relevant Federal, 13
State, or local law related to— 14
(A) domestic violence; 15
(B) stalking; 16
(C) dating violence; and 17
(D) sexual assault. 18
SEC. 105. OTHER DEFINITIONS. 19
In this title: 20
(1) W
ORKPLACE VIOLENCE.— 21
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘workplace 22
violence’’ means any act of violence or threat of 23
violence, without regard to intent, that occurs 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 28
•HR 2531 IH
at a covered facility or while a covered employee 1
performs a covered service. 2
(B) E
XCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘workplace 3
violence’’ does not include lawful acts of self-de-4
fense or lawful acts of defense of others. 5
(C) I
NCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘workplace 6
violence’’ includes— 7
(i) the threat or use of physical force 8
against a covered employee that results in 9
or has a high likelihood of resulting in in-10
jury, psychological trauma, or stress, with-11
out regard to whether the covered em-12
ployee sustains an injury, psychological 13
trauma, or stress; and 14
(ii) an incident involving the threat or 15
use of a firearm or a dangerous weapon, 16
including the use of common objects as 17
weapons, without regard to whether the 18
employee sustains an injury, psychological 19
trauma, or stress. 20
(2) T
YPE 1 VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘type 1 vio-21
lence’’— 22
(A) means workplace violence directed at a 23
covered employee at a covered facility or while 24
performing a covered service by an individual 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 29
•HR 2531 IH
who has no legitimate business at the covered 1
facility or with respect to such covered service; 2
and 3
(B) includes violent acts by any individual 4
who enters the covered facility or worksite 5
where a covered service is being performed with 6
the intent to commit a crime. 7
(3) T
YPE 2 VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘type 2 vio-8
lence’’ means workplace violence directed at a cov-9
ered employee by customers, clients, patients, stu-10
dents, inmates, or any individual for whom a covered 11
facility provides services or for whom the employee 12
performs covered services. 13
(4) T
YPE 3 VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘type 3 vio-14
lence’’ means workplace violence directed at a cov-15
ered employee by a present or former employee, su-16
pervisor, or manager. 17
(5) T
YPE 4 VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘type 4 vio-18
lence’’ means workplace violence directed at a cov-19
ered employee by an individual who is not an em-20
ployee, but has or is known to have had a personal 21
relationship with such employee, or with a customer, 22
client, patient, student, inmate, or any individual for 23
whom a covered facility provides services or for 24
whom the employee performs covered services. 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 30
•HR 2531 IH
(6) THREAT OF VIOLENCE .—The term ‘‘threat 1
of violence’’ means a statement or conduct that— 2
(A) causes an individual to fear for such 3
individual’s safety because there is a reasonable 4
possibility the individual might be physically in-5
jured; and 6
(B) serves no legitimate purpose. 7
(7) A
LARM.—The term ‘‘alarm’’ means a me-8
chanical, electrical, or electronic device that does not 9
rely upon an employee’s vocalization in order to alert 10
others. 11
(8) D
ANGEROUS WEAPON .—The term ‘‘dan-12
gerous weapon’’ means an instrument capable of in-13
flicting death or serious bodily injury, without re-14
gard to whether such instrument was designed for 15
that purpose. 16
(9) E
NGINEERING CONTROLS .— 17
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘engineering 18
controls’’ means an aspect of the built space or 19
a device that removes a hazard from the work-20
place or creates a barrier between a covered 21
employee and the hazard. 22
(B) I
NCLUSIONS.—For purposes of reduc-23
ing workplace violence hazards, the term ‘‘engi-24
neering controls’’ includes electronic access con-25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 31
•HR 2531 IH
trols to employee occupied areas, weapon detec-1
tors (installed or handheld), enclosed work-2
stations with shatter-resistant glass, deep serv-3
ice counters, separate rooms or areas for high- 4
risk patients, locks on doors, removing access to 5
or securing items that could be used as weap-6
ons, furniture affixed to the floor, opaque glass 7
in patient rooms (which protects privacy, but 8
allows the health care provider to see where the 9
patient is before entering the room), closed-cir-10
cuit television monitoring and video recording, 11
sight-aids, and personal alarm devices. 12
(10) E
NVIRONMENTAL RISK FACTORS .— 13
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘environ-14
mental risk factors’’ means factors in the cov-15
ered facility or area in which a covered service 16
is performed that may contribute to the likeli-17
hood or severity of a workplace violence inci-18
dent. 19
(B) C
LARIFICATION.—Environmental risk 20
factors may be associated with the specific task 21
being performed or the work area, such as 22
working in an isolated area, poor illumination 23
or blocked visibility, and lack of physical bar-24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 32
•HR 2531 IH
riers between individuals and persons at risk of 1
committing workplace violence. 2
(11) P
ATIENT-SPECIFIC RISK FACTORS .—The 3
term ‘‘patient-specific risk factors’’ means factors 4
specific to a patient that may increase the likelihood 5
or severity of a workplace violence incident, includ-6
ing— 7
(A) a patient’s treatment and medication 8
status, and history of violence and use of drugs 9
or alcohol; and 10
(B) any conditions or disease processes of 11
the patient that may cause the patient to expe-12
rience confusion or disorientation, be non-re-13
sponsive to instruction, behave unpredictably, or 14
engage in disruptive, threatening, or violent be-15
havior. 16
(12) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 17
means the Secretary of Labor. 18
(13) W
ORK PRACTICE CONTROLS .— 19
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘work prac-20
tice controls’’ means procedures and rules that 21
are used to effectively reduce workplace violence 22
hazards. 23
(B) I
NCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘work prac-24
tice controls’’ includes— 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 33
•HR 2531 IH
(i) assigning and placing sufficient 1
numbers of staff to reduce patient-specific 2
type 2 violence hazards; 3
(ii) provision of dedicated and avail-4
able safety personnel such as security 5
guards; 6
(iii) employee training on workplace 7
violence prevention methods and tech-8
niques to de-escalate and minimize violent 9
behavior; and 10
(iv) employee training on procedures 11
for response in the event of a workplace vi-12
olence incident and for post-incident re-13
sponse. 14
TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO THE 15
SOCIAL SECURITY ACT 16
SEC. 201. APPLICATION OF THE WORKPLACE VIOLENCE 17
PREVENTION STANDARD TO CERTAIN FACILI-18
TIES RECEIVING MEDICARE FUNDS. 19
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Section 1866 of the Social Secu-20
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395cc) is amended— 21
(1) in subsection (a)(1)— 22
(A) in subparagraph (X), by striking 23
‘‘and’’ at the end; 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 34
•HR 2531 IH
(B) in subparagraph (Y), by striking the 1
period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 2
(C) by inserting after subparagraph (Y) 3
the following new subparagraph: 4
‘‘(Z) in the case of hospitals that are not other-5
wise subject to the Occupational Safety and Health 6
Act of 1970 (or a State occupational safety and 7
health plan that is approved under 18(b) of such 8
Act) and skilled nursing facilities that are not other-9
wise subject to such Act (or such a State occupa-10
tional safety and health plan), to comply with the 11
Workplace Violence Prevention Standard (as pro-12
mulgated under section 101 of the Workplace Vio-13
lence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service 14
Workers Act).’’; and 15
(2) in subsection (b)(4)— 16
(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 17
‘‘and a hospital or skilled nursing facility that 18
fails to comply with the requirement of sub-19
section (a)(1)(Z) (relating to the Workplace Vi-20
olence Prevention Standard)’’ after 21
‘‘Bloodborne Pathogens standard)’’; and 22
(B) in subparagraph (B)— 23
(i) by striking ‘‘(a)(1)(U)’’ and insert-24
ing ‘‘(a)(1)(V)’’; and 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 35
•HR 2531 IH
(ii) by inserting ‘‘(or, in the case of a 1
failure to comply with the requirement of 2
subsection (a)(1)(Z), for a violation of the 3
Workplace Violence Prevention standard 4
referred to in such subsection by a hospital 5
or skilled nursing facility, as applicable, 6
that is subject to the provisions of such 7
Act)’’ before the period at the end. 8
(b) E
FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 9
subsection (a) shall apply beginning on the date that is 10
1 year after the date of issuance of the interim final stand-11
ard on workplace violence prevention required under sec-12
tion 101. 13
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00035 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2531.IH H2531
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB