Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, workplace violence has reached epidemic levels and is the third greatest cause of job death right now.

Nurses, medical assistants, emergency responders, and social workers face some of the greatest threats, suffering more than 72 percent of all workplace assaults. Women suffer two out of every three serious workplace violence incidents.

This is unacceptable. We need to protect workers and require employers to put in place effective workplace violence prevention plans. It is simple. Make a plan.

We need to protect our healthcare and social service workers who have done so much for us during the pandemic to care for us. Now, we need to care for them.

We need H.R. 1195 now. Let's come together and get it done.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record an editorial column from Bonnie Castillo and a letter from the AFL-CIO. [From The Hill, Apr. 9, 2021]

We Can't Afford to Lose One More Nurse--Passing Workplace Violence Prevention Bill Would Help (By Bonnie Castillo, Opinion Contributor)

``My children were very distraught to see their mom with a black eye,'' said Luciana Herr, a registered nurse in the inpatient psychiatry unit at Abbott Northwest Hospital in Minneapolis, Minn. Herr entered a hospital room in early March to find a patient hitting and biting her co-worker. With no security or other staff around, she tried to help and was punched in the face twice and kicked several times. It was the second time she had been assaulted in just a few months.

Tragically, Herr's story is all too common. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, health care and social service workers have a five times greater likelihood of experiencing a workplace violence-related injury than workers overall. This extremely high rate of violence is unacceptable, a fact driven home by the pandemic. We cannot let nurses and other health care workers go one more day fighting for optimal COVID protections while also wondering whether they will be assaulted at work.

That's why National Nurses United (NNU), the largest union of registered nurses in the United States, is fighting to get a critical bill across the finish line. The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 1195) would mandate that federal OSHA hold health care and social service employers accountable for developing and implementing a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan, publicly reporting incidents of violence, and not retaliating against workers who report violence.

The legislation passed the U.S. House in the 116th Congress and was reintroduced this session by U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.). It will come up for a floor vote soon in the House, and nurses across the country urge congressmembers to vote yes.

Planning to prevent violence means everything because once violence happens, it's already too late. This truth really hit home when our beloved NNU member Cynthia Palomata, a registered nurse in California, was killed by her patient in 2010. Countless nurses across the country are attacked physically and verbally each year, and the violence may be growing. A November 2020 National Nurses United survey of 15,000 registered nurses across the country found that 20 percent of respondents reported an increase in workplace violence during the pandemic.

It's important to remember that when nurses aren't safe, patients, visitors, and family members are also not safe. Violence can harm anyone in the vicinity.

According to Herr, staffing at an optimal level, adding security, and making sure patients are assessed and placed where they are best served are examples of actions her employer could take to curb violence before it happens. But there is no federal mandate for health care and social service employers to have a comprehensive, unit-specific prevention plan. This bill will establish one. In our profit- driven health care system, employers will never invest in prevention unless they are held accountable.

``All I got was an `I am sorry that happened to you,' '' said Melanie Autrey, a general surgery registered nurse at Mission Hospital in Asheville, N.C., who--along with her co- worker--was attacked in January by a patient with dementia. ``It made me feel like I was not safe working here. It made me feel like `What does it take?' ''

In Autrey's case, simple things may have helped, like the hospital investing in ``sitters,'' staff who can watch over patients in need of supervision and notice changes in behavior before a patient grows violent. There are so many clear actions that health care employers can take to prevent violence from happening and to ensure nurses can focus on caring for patients, not on wondering whether they will be hurt or killed on the job. But if we don't hold profit-driven employers accountable, they will never change.

As of early April, more than 3,570 registered nurses and other health care workers have already died of COVID-19. We can't afford to lose one more--not to the virus, not to violence, not to preventable causes. Congress must pass the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act without delay. ____ AFL-CIO, Washington, DC, April 13, 2021.

Dear Representative: I am writing on behalf of the AFL-CIO to urge you to vote for the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Services Workers Act (H.R. 1195) when it is brought to the floor this week. This bill would direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue a federal workplace violence prevention standard to protect workers in health care and social services from injury and death. We also urge you to oppose Keller #6.

Workplace violence is a serious and growing safety and health problem that has reached epidemic levels. Workplace violence is the third leading cause of job death, and results in more than 30,000 serious lost-time injuries each year. Nurses, medical assistants, emergency responders and social workers face some of the greatest threats, suffering more than 72% of all workplace assaults. Women workers particularly are at risk, suffering two out of every three serious workplace violence injuries.

An OSHA standard under H.R. 1195 would protect these workers by requiring employers in the health care and social service sectors to develop and implement a workplace violence prevention plan, tailored to specific workplaces and worker populations. As part of the plan, employers would be required to work with employees to identify and correct hazards, develop systems for reporting threats of violence and injuries, provide training for workers and management and protect workers from retaliation for reporting workplace violence incidents. Common sense prevention measures include alarm devices, lighting, security, and surveillance and monitoring systems to reduce the risk of violent assaults and injuries.

The requirements for a workplace violence prevention plan are based upon existing recommendations from OSHA, NIOSH and professional associations, and scientific studies have found these guidelines to significantly reduce the incidence of workplace violence. Similar measures have been adopted in a number of states and implemented by some employers. Currently, however, there is no federal OSHA workplace standard, which would ensure these measures are in place. The majority of healthcare and social service workers lack effective protection and remain at serious risk while OSHA has been slow to act.

The AFL-CIO opposes Keller # 6, the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute, as it will continue to delay protections for workers and will weaken the underlying protections of H.R. 1195. Working people need protection from workplace violence now, and should not have to wait seven years or more, the average time it takes for OSHA to issue a safety and health standard. It has been over four years since OSHA issued a Request for Information on workplace violence. Since this initial step, the agency has not taken additional action.

In recognition of the urgency to protect these workers from dangerous assaults, we support the underlying bill, which requires OSHA to develop an interim standard within one year and a final standard within 42 months. OSHA issued its first guidance to employers on protecting health care and social service workers from workplace violence 25 years ago in 1996. These frontline workers cannot wait any longer; their lives are in danger.

The underlying bill has broad support from health care professionals, safety and health professionals and healthcare unions including the National Association of Social Workers, American Public Health Association, American Industrial Hygiene Association and American Society of Safety Professionals. Also, this important legislation passed the House during the 116th Congress with 251 votes and continues to have strong bipartisan support.

We urge you to support H.R. 1195 to help protect health care and social service workers from the growing threat of workplace violence and unnecessary injury and death. We also urge you to oppose any Motion to Recommit, which would have the effect of killing the bill. Sincerely, William Samuel, Director, Government Affairs.

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