Cal/OSHA regulations for workplace violence prevention in hospital and healthcare settings have been anticipated since the 2014 passage of CA SB 1299. That bill requires Cal/OSHA to adopt standards by January 1, 2016 that require hospitals to establish workplace violence prevention plans.
Cal/OSHA’s recently released draft regulation goes beyond requiring workplace violence prevention plans in hospitals. The draft regulation would apply to:
- hospital facilities, including general acute care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and acute psychiatric hospitals,
- outpatient medical offices and clinics,
- home health care and hospice,
- mobile clinics and medical outreach services,
- paramedic, firefighter and other emergency responders,
- drug and chemical dependency and mental health treatment centers,
- and other health operations that are not in hospitals.
The proposal would require employers to take protective action against an imminent hazards immediately, and take measures to protect employees from identified serious workplace violence hazards within seven days of the discovery of the hazard.
Incident Reporting
The regulation would require hospitals to report violent incidents that result in an injury, involve the use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon, or present an urgent or emergent threat to the welfare, health or safety of hospital personnel within 24 hours. All other violent incidents would need to be reported within 72 hours.
Training and Recordkeeping
The regulations would require training for all new or reassigned employees, and annual refresher training for all employees. In addition, the regulations would require employers to make records of workplace violence hazard identification, evaluation, and correction, create and maintain training records for one year, and create and maintain records of violent incidents for a period of 5 years.
Interested parties can track the progress of the regulation here.