1Providing for violence prevention committees in health care
2facilities, for their powers and duties, for remedies and for
3the powers and duties of the Department of Labor and
4Industry.

5The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6hereby enacts as follows:

7Section 1. Short title.

8This act shall be known and may be cited as the Nurse
9Violence Prevention Act.

10Section 2. Definitions.

11The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
12have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
13context clearly indicates otherwise:

14"Committee." The violence prevention committee established
15by a health facility pursuant to this act.

16"Department." The Department of Labor and Industry of the
17Commonwealth.

18"Employee." An individual who is employed by a health

1facility, the Commonwealth or a political subdivision who is
2involved in direct patient care or clinical care services.

3"Health facility." A hospital, long-term care facility or
4home health care center as those terms are defined under the act
5of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, No.48), known as the Health Care
6Facilities Act.

7"Program." A workplace violence prevention program
8established by a committee.

9"Workplace violence." Violence or the threat of violence
10against workers.

11Section 3. Violence prevention committee.

12(a) Establishment.--A health facility shall establish a
13violence prevention committee to establish, review, administer
14and provide guidance about a program relating to the prevention
15of workplace violence at the health facility.

16(b) Membership.--A committee shall be comprised as follows:

17(1) At least one member of the committee who shall
18represent management or a designee, who shall oversee all
19aspects of the program.

20(2) At least 50% of the members of the committee shall
21have direct patient care responsibilities, with the majority
22being licensed nurses.

23(3) The remaining members of the committee shall have
24experience, expertise or responsibility relevant to violence
25prevention or any other expertise that is considered
26beneficial to the committee.

27(4) The committee shall have a proportional
28representation by union members, selected by their union, and
29nonunion members elected by secret ballots by their peers.
30The proportional representation shall incorporate all health

1care professionals and support personnel at the health
2facility at risk of becoming a victim of a violent act.

3(5) In the case of a health care system that is subject
4to a collective bargaining agreement, the contractual
5agreement can and should designate the number of union
6members to serve on the committee, as well as the number of
7representatives from management. The agreement should also
8account for individuals who are employed by the health care
9system, but not a member of a union or management.

10(c) Operation of committee and program.--In the case of a
11health care system that owns or operates more than one covered
12health facility, the committee and program may be operated at
13the system or department level, provided that:

14(1) Committee membership include at least one health
15care worker from each facility who provides direct care to
16patients.

17(2) The committee develop a violence prevention plan for
18each facility.

19(3) Data related to violence prevention remain
20distinctly identifiable for each facility.

21Section 4. Duties of the committee.

22(a) Risk assessment evaluation.--A committee shall annually
23perform a risk assessment evaluation of any and all aspects or
24factors that may put an employee of the health facility at risk
25of workplace violence. Those aspects or factors shall include,
26but not be limited to:

27(1) Working in public settings.

28(2) Guarding or maintaining property or possessions.

29(3) Working in high-crime areas.

30(4) Working late at night or early in the morning.

1(5) Using commuter lots which are not adequately lit or
2frequently patrolled.

3(6) The existence of uncontrolled public access to the
4workplace.

5(7) Working in public areas with individuals in crisis.

6(8) Working in areas where a patient or resident may
7exhibit violent behavior.

8(a.1) Review.--The committee shall meet quarterly to review
9any case of workplace violence and to perform duties required by
10this act.

11(b) Preparation of report and establishment of program.--

12(1) A committee shall prepare a report from the risk
13assessment and establish a violence prevention program. If
14there is more than one health facility within a system, there
15shall be a program established for each health facility.

16(2) The committee shall develop and maintain a detailed,
17written violence prevention plan that identifies workplace
18risks and provides specific methods to address them.

19(3) The committee shall also distribute the written
20violence prevention plan to those employees who are
21identified to be at risk for workplace violence or any other
22employee who requests the report.

23(4) The committee shall make the report available to the
24public upon the proper request.

25(5) The committee shall also establish a method to
26expedite reporting and review of a report of workplace
27violence and make written recommendations to the health
28facility management on how to prevent additional incidents of
29similar workplace violence.

30(c) Appropriate employee training.--The committee shall

1provide appropriate employee training to all health care
2providers who provide direct patient care at the time of hire
3and annually thereafter.

4Section 5. Reporting of workplace violence.

5(a) Reporting.--An employee of a health facility who
6reasonably believes that an incident of workplace violence has
7occurred shall report the occurrence of such incident in
8accordance with the violence prevention committee plan of the
9health facility unless the employee knows a report has already
10been made. The report shall be made immediately or as soon
11thereafter as reasonably practicable, but in no event later than
1224 hours after the occurrence or discovery of the incident.

13(b) Liability.--An employee of a health facility who reports
14the occurrence of an incident of workplace violence in
15accordance with subsection (a) shall not be subject to any
16retaliatory action for reporting the serious event or incident
17set forth in the act of December 12, 1986 (P.L.1558, No.169),
18known as the Whistleblower Law.

19(c) Limitation.--Nothing in this section shall limit a
20health facility's ability to take appropriate disciplinary
21action against an employee for failure to meet defined
22performance expectations or to take corrective action against an
23employee for unprofessional conduct, including making false
24reports or failure to report serious events under this section.

25Section 6. Distribution of reports of workplace violence.

26A report of workplace violence that is submitted to
27management or to the health facility shall also be provided to
28the committee within 72 hours of the report.

29Section 7. Penalties.

30(a) Administrative fine.--The department may levy an

1administrative fine on a health facility or employer that
2violates this act or any regulation issued under this act. The
3fine shall be not less than $100 nor greater than $1,000 for
4each violation.

5(b) Administrative order.--The department may order a health
6facility to take an action which the department deems necessary
7to correct a violation of section 4.

8(c) Administrative agency law.--This section is subject to 2
9Pa.C.S. Chs. 5 Subch. A (relating to practice and procedure of
10Commonwealth agencies) and 7 Subch. A (relating to judicial
11review of Commonwealth agency action).

12Section 8. Remedies.

13(a) General rule.--Where a health facility has been found to
14have engaged in conduct which caused or maintained a substantial
15risk of further workplace violence, including failing to
16implement the recommendations of the committee, a court may
17enjoin the health facility from engaging in the illegal
18activities and may order any other relief that is appropriate,
19including, but not limited to, reinstatement, removal of the
20offending party from the employee's work environment,
21reimbursement for lost wages, medical expenses, compensation for
22emotional distress and attorney fees.

23(b) Appeals to department.--

24(1) If the committee concludes that a health facility is
25not acting in good faith in implementing the recommendations
26of the committee, the committee, by vote of a majority of the
27members, may appeal the health facility's decision to the
28department.

29(2) If the department after a hearing determines the
30health facility is acting in bad faith and failing to

1implement safety recommendations suggested by the committee,
2the department may implement penalties against the health
3facility, including appropriate fines and administrative
4penalties.

5Section 9. Effect on collective bargaining agreements.

6Nothing in this act shall be construed to:

7(1) Prevent, interfere, exempt or supersede any current
8provision of an employee's existing collective bargaining
9agreement that provides greater rights and protection than
10prescribed by this act.

11(2) Prevent any new provisions of a collective
12bargaining agreement which provide greater rights and
13protections from being implemented and applicable to an
14employee.

15Section 10. Rules and regulations.

16The Secretary of Labor and Industry shall adopt rules and
17regulations necessary to implement this act. The rules and
18regulations shall include such guidelines as the Secretary of
19Labor and Industry deems appropriate regarding workplace
20violence prevention programs required pursuant to this act and
21related to reporting and monitoring systems and employee
22training.

23Section 11. Effective date.

24This act shall take effect in 180 days.