Requires hospitals to establish a violence prevention program and conduct an annual safety and security assessment for the purpose of protecting health care workers, patients, families and visitors.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A474B
SPONSOR: Cruz TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring hospi-
tals to conduct an annual safety and security assessment and develop a
violence prevention program
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Requires hospitals to establish a violence prevention program and
conduct and annual safety and security assessment
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
This legislation will require hospitals to establish a violence,
prevention program. Hospitals will be required to conduct an annual
safety and security assessment, as well as develop a safety and security
plan while consulting with affected employees, including the recognized
collective bargaining agent or agents, if any, and members of the hospi-
tal medical staff. It can occur through established hospital safety and
security committees and existing labor management committees.
This legislation includes provisions on what the annual safety and secu-
rity assessment shall include as considerations. It must specify methods
to reduce identified risks, including training,-increased staffing and
security, and other equipment and facility modifications. The safety and
security plan and other aspects of the violence prevention program must
be made available upon request to employees of the hospital, their
designated representatives and to the department.
This bill will take effect immediately.
JUSTIFICATION:
Physicians and other healthcare employees are exposed on a daily basis
to the potential of assault or other violent situations in the course of
their duties. Assault on the job is one of the most frequent causes of
serious injuries in the healthcare industry, and violence is a more
common cause of injury than in other industries. U.S. healthcare work-
ers suffer thousands of workplace-violence-related injuries every year
that require time away from work for treatment and recovery (i.e., seri-
ous injuries). A 2013 Public Citizen Report found that forty-five
percent of all workplace violence incidents in the USA that result in
lost workdays occur in the health care sector. Injuries and illnesses
come at a high cost, but it can be prevented.
To ensure that healthcare workers are able to provide the highest quali-
ty of care for their patients, this bill will help ensure a safe work
environment conducive to the needs of these professionals.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.4848 of 2020
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
474--B
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 9, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CRUZ, DINOWITZ, SEAWRIGHT -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Health -- recommitted to the Committee on
Health in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee -- again reported from said committee with amend-
ments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring hospi-
tals to conduct an annual safety and security assessment and develop a
violence prevention program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section
2 2831 to read as follows:
3 § 2831. Violence prevention program. 1. Within six months of the
4 effective date of this section, every hospital shall establish a
5 violence prevention program for the purpose of protecting health care
6 workers, patients, families and visitors. The program shall, at a mini-
7 mum, include the requirements set forth in this section.
8 2. Beginning September first, two thousand twenty-five, all hospitals
9 shall conduct, not less than annually, a safety and security assessment
10 and develop a safety and security plan. As part of the plan, a hospital
11 shall adopt security policies including personnel training policies
12 designed to protect personnel, patients, and visitors from aggressive or
13 violent behavior. The assessment shall consider limiting and regulating
14 visitor access through a secure primary entrance, implementing strong
15 visitor management programs through the use of visitor screening tech-
16 nologies that incorporate the issuance of temporary identification badg-
17 es to all visitors entering the hospital. In conducting the annual
18 assessment and developing the plan, the hospital shall consult with
19 affected employees, including the recognized collective bargaining agent
20 or agents, if any, and members of the hospital medical staff and may
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02307-04-4
A. 474--B 2
1 occur through established hospital safety and security committees and
2 existing labor management committees. Persons regularly assigned to
3 provide security in a hospital setting shall be adequately trained
4 regarding the role of security in hospital operations, including the
5 identification of aggressive and violent predicting factors and manage-
6 ment of violent disturbances.
7 3. The annual safety and security assessment shall include, but not be
8 limited to, security considerations relating to all of the following:
9 (a) the facility's layout, access restrictions and physical and struc-
10 tural layout concerns that could lead to endangering the safety of
11 patients and hospital personnel;
12 (b) the impact of sufficient staffing, including security personnel to
13 deliver security;
14 (c) adequate policy and training to respond to violent acts;
15 (d) the crime rate in surrounding areas, lighting, and efforts to
16 cooperate with local law enforcement regarding violent acts in the
17 facility;
18 (e) protective measures, including communication, alarms and access
19 control;
20 (f) the handling and identification of disturbed patients, visitors
21 and employees;
22 (g) the handling of threats and the presence of individuals who may
23 pose a risk of violence;
24 (h) hospital safety and emergency preparedness;
25 (i) mechanisms for ensuring appropriate safety and security communi-
26 cation and information sharing between staff; and
27 (j) safety protocols to meet the needs of individuals with mental
28 illness, violence prevention and de-escalation safeguards.
29 4. The safety and security plan shall specify methods to reduce iden-
30 tified risks, including training, increased staffing and security,
31 equipment and facility modifications. The plan shall provide that each
32 hospital have at least one off-duty law enforcement officer or trained
33 security personnel be present at all times in the emergency department
34 of such hospital. Every hospital shall make the safety and security
35 plan and other aspects of the violence prevention program available,
36 upon request, to its employees, their designated representatives and to
37 the department.
38 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
39 it shall have become a law.
