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
              

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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

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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.