S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
4856
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
February 8, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LANCMAN, GOTTFRIED -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to the prevention of violence
in health care workplaces
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "health
care workplace violence prevention act".
S 2. Legislative findings. The legislature finds and declares that for
many years health care workers have faced a significant risk of job-re-
lated violence.
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics ("BLS") reports that incidents
of homicide nationally for health care practitioners and technical occu-
pations as well as for health care support occupations more than doubled
from 2007 to 2009. National injury rates also reveal that health care
workers are at high risk of violent assault at work. BLS data shows that
nationally, out of the 111 workplace fatalities that occurred in the
health care industry in 2009, 41 (36.9%) were caused by assaults and
violent acts. This is an increase of 74.5% since 2005.
Although workplace fatalities, including homicides, may attract more
attention, the vast majority of workplace violence consists of non-fatal
assaults. New York state workers' compensation board data on all New
York state injury or illness claims show that the claims caused by
assault in the health care industry have been consistently higher than
the state average across all industries. From 2008-2009, the percentage
of assaults and violent acts by persons of all claims was 6%, while in
hospitals it was 18.3%; and in nursing residential care facilities it
was 20%. In data compiled nationally by BLS on non-fatal injury and
illness across all private industries in 2009, the rate of assault and
violent acts by persons per 10,000 full-time workers is 3.9. Compar-
atively, the rate of assault for nursing aides, orderlies and attendees
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08294-02-1
A. 4856 2
was 33.8 assaults and violent acts by a person per 10,000 full-time
workers.
Recent local examples of workplace violence in the health care indus-
try include Danbury Hospital in Bridgeport, Connecticut and St. Barnabas
Hospital in Bronx, New York. In July 2010, the federal Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Danbury Hospital for
"failing to provide its employees with adequate safeguards against work-
place violence". At Danbury Hospital, OSHA found twenty-five instances
of patient violence against hospital employees that resulted in lost
workdays or restricted duty for employees in the five years prior to the
inspection. OSHA also found at Danbury Hospital that the hospital's
workplace violence program was incomplete and ineffective at preventing
these instances of violence. In a 2010 OSHA inspection, OSHA found that
St. Barnabas Hospital "did not have an effective workplace violence
prevention program". At St. Barnabas, forty employee injuries caused by
patient assault on employees were recorded in 2009 that either resulted
in lost workdays or medical treatment beyond first aid.
OSHA identifies several factors accounting for the increased risk of
work-related assaults on health care workers. These include the preva-
lence of handguns and other weapons among patients, their families or
friends in hospital emergency rooms; the increasing use of hospitals by
police and the criminal justice system for holding and caring for acute-
ly disturbed, violent individuals; the increasing number of acute and
chronic mentally ill patients being released from hospitals without
follow-up care (these patients have the right to refuse medicine and can
no longer be hospitalized involuntarily unless they pose an immediate
threat to themselves or others); the availability of drugs or money at
hospitals, clinics and pharmacies, making them likely robbery targets;
factors such as the unrestricted movement of the public in clinics and
hospitals and long waits in emergency or clinic areas that lead to
patient frustration over an inability to obtain needed services prompt-
ly; the increasing presence of gang members, drug or alcohol abusers,
trauma patients or distraught family members; low staffing levels during
times of increased activity such as mealtimes, visiting times and when
staff are transporting patients; isolated work with clients during exam-
inations or treatment; solo work, often in remote locations with no
backup or way to get assistance, such as communication devices or alarm
systems (this is particularly true in high-crime settings); lack of
staff training in recognizing and managing escalating hostile and
assaultive behavior; and poorly lit parking areas.
Workplace violence prevention programs, which include management and
employee collaboration, worksite analysis, hazard prevention and
control, safety and health training, and recordkeeping and program eval-
uation, can reduce incidents of workplace violence.
S 3. The section heading, subdivision 1 and paragraphs a and b of
subdivision 2 of section 27-b of the labor law, as added by chapter 82
of the laws of 2006, are amended to read as follows:
Duty of public AND HEALTH CARE employers to develop and implement
programs to prevent workplace violence. 1. Purpose. The purpose of this
section is to ensure that the risk of workplace assaults and homicides
is evaluated by affected public AND HEALTH CARE employers and their
employees and that such employers design and implement workplace
violence protection programs to prevent and minimize the hazard of work-
place violence to public AND HEALTH CARE employees.
a. "Employer" means: (1) the state; (2) a political subdivision of the
state, provided, however that this subdivision shall not mean any
A. 4856 3
employer as defined in section twenty-eight hundred one-a of the educa-
tion law; [and] (3) a public authority, a public benefit corporation, or
any other governmental agency or instrumentality thereof; AND (4) A
HEALTH CARE PROVIDER LICENSED UNDER ARTICLE TWENTY-EIGHT OR THIRTY-SIX
OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW OR ARTICLE SIXTEEN OF THE MENTAL HYGIENE LAW.
b. "Employee" means [a public] AN employee working for an employer.
S 4. The provisions of this act shall not diminish the rights of
employees pursuant to any law, rule, regulation or collective bargaining
agreement.
S 5. Nothing in this act shall change or alter an entity's obligation
to comply with any otherwise applicable workplace safety standards
established by law or otherwise. Any provision of this act which jeop-
ardizes an entity's receipt of Medicaid or Medicare reimbursement shall
be null and void with regard to such entity.
S 6. This act shall take effect on the two hundred seventieth day
after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective
immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regu-
lation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective
date is authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before
such effective date.