Requirements for workplace violence prevention standard

Each standard described in section 101 shall include, at a minimum, the following requirements: (1) Workplace violence prevention plan Not later than 6 months after the date of promulgation of the interim final standard under section 101(a), a covered employer shall develop, implement, and maintain an effective written workplace violence prevention plan (in this section referred to as the Plan) for covered employees at each covered facility and for covered employees performing a covered service on behalf of such employer, which meets the following: (A) Plan development Each Plan— (i) shall be developed and implemented with the meaningful participation of direct care employees, other employees, and employee representatives, for all aspects of the Plan; (ii) shall be tailored and specific to conditions and hazards for the covered facility or the covered service, including patient-specific risk factors and risk factors specific to each work area or unit; (iii) shall be suitable for the size, complexity, and type of operations at the covered facility or for the covered service, and remain in effect at all times; and (iv) may be in consultation with stakeholders or experts who specialize in workplace violence prevention, emergency response, or other related areas of expertise for all relevant aspects of the Plan. (B) Plan content Each Plan shall include procedures and methods for the following: (i) Identification of the individual and the individual’s position responsible for implementation of the Plan. (ii) With respect to each work area and unit at the covered facility or while covered employees are performing the covered service, risk assessment and identification of workplace violence risks and hazards to employees exposed to such risks and hazards (including environmental risk factors and patient-specific risk factors), which shall be— (I) informed by past violent incidents specific to such covered facility or such covered service; and (II) conducted with, at a minimum— (aa) direct care employees; (bb) where applicable, the representatives of such employees; and (cc) the employer. (iii) Hazard prevention, engineering controls, or work practice controls to correct hazards, in a timely manner, applying industrial hygiene principles of the hierarchy of controls, which— (I) may include security and alarm systems, adequate exit routes, monitoring systems, barrier protection, established areas for patients and clients, lighting, entry procedures, staffing and working in teams, and systems to identify and flag clients with a history of violence; and (II) shall ensure that employers correct, in a timely manner, hazards identified in any violent incident investigation described in paragraph (2) and any annual report described in paragraph (5). (iv) Reporting, incident response, and post-incident investigation procedures, including procedures— (I) for employees to report workplace violence risks, hazards, and incidents; (II) for employers to respond to reports of workplace violence; (III) for employers to perform a post-incident investigation and debriefing of all reports of workplace violence with the participation of employees and their representatives; (IV) to provide medical care or first aid to affected employees; and (V) to provide employees with information about available trauma and related counseling. (v) Procedures for emergency response, including procedures for threats of mass casualties and procedures for incidents involving a firearm or a dangerous weapon. (vi) Procedures for communicating with and training the covered employees on workplace violence hazards, threats, and work practice controls, the employer’s plan, and procedures for confronting, responding to, and reporting workplace violence threats, incidents, and concerns, and employee rights. (vii) Procedures for— (I) ensuring the coordination of risk assessment efforts, Plan development, and implementation of the Plan with other employers who have employees who work at the covered facility or who are performing the covered service; and (II) determining which covered employer or covered employers shall be responsible for implementing and complying with the provisions of the standard applicable to the working conditions over which such employers have control. (viii) Procedures for conducting the annual evaluation under paragraph (6). (C) Availability of plan Each Plan shall be made available at all times to the covered employees who are covered under such Plan. (2) Violent incident investigation (A) In general As soon as practicable after a workplace violence incident, risk, or hazard of which a covered employer has knowledge, the employer shall conduct an investigation of such incident, risk, or hazard under which the employer shall— (i) review the circumstances of the incident, risk, or hazard, and whether any controls or measures implemented pursuant to the Plan of the employer were effective; and (ii) solicit input from involved employees, their representatives, and supervisors about the cause of the incident, risk, or hazard, and whether further corrective measures (including system-level factors) could have prevented the incident, risk, or hazard. (B) Documentation A covered employer shall document the findings, recommendations, and corrective measures taken for each investigation conducted under this paragraph. (3) Training and education With respect to the covered employees covered under a Plan of a covered employer, the employer shall provide training and education to such employees who may be exposed to workplace violence hazards and risks, which meet the following requirements: (A) Annual training and education shall include information on the Plan, including identified workplace violence hazards, work practice control measures, reporting procedures, record-keeping requirements, response procedures, anti-retaliation policies, and employee rights. (B) Additional hazard recognition training shall be provided for supervisors and managers to ensure they— (i) can recognize high-risk situations; and (ii) do not assign employees to situations that predictably compromise the safety of such employees. (C) Additional training shall be provided for each such covered employee whose job circumstances have changed, within a reasonable timeframe after such change. (D) Additional training shall be provided for each such covered employee whose job circumstances require working with victims of torture, trafficking, or domestic violence. (E) Applicable training shall be provided under this paragraph for each new covered employee prior to the employee’s job assignment. (F) All training shall provide such employees opportunities to ask questions, give feedback on training, and request additional instruction, clarification, or other follow-up. (G) All training shall be provided in-person and by an individual with knowledge of workplace violence prevention and of the Plan, except that any annual training described in subparagraph (A) provided to an employee after the first year such training is provided to such employee may be conducted by live video if in-person training is impracticable. (H) All training shall be appropriate in content and vocabulary to the language, educational level, and literacy of such covered employees. (4) Recordkeeping and access to plan records (A) In general Each covered employer shall— (i) maintain for not less than 5 years— (I) records related to each Plan of the employer, including workplace violence risk and hazard assessments, and identification, evaluation, correction, and training procedures; (II) a violent incident log described in subparagraph (B) for recording all workplace violence incidents; and (III) records of all incident investigations as required under paragraph (2)(B); and (ii) (I) make such records and logs available, upon request, to covered employees and their representatives for examination and copying in accordance with section 1910.1020 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations (as such section is in effect on the date of enactment of this Act), and in a manner consistent with HIPAA privacy regulations (defined in section 1180(b)(3) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320d–9(b)(3))) and part 2 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations (as such part is in effect on the date of enactment of this Act); and (II) ensure that any such records and logs that may be copied, transmitted electronically, or otherwise removed from the employer’s control for purposes of this clause omit any element of personal identifying information sufficient to allow identification of any patient, resident, client, or other individual alleged to have committed a violent incident (including the individual’s name, address, electronic mail address, telephone number, or social security number, or other information that, alone or in combination with other publicly available information, reveals such individual’s identity). (B) Violent incident log description Each violent incident log shall— (i) be maintained by a covered employer for each covered facility controlled by the employer and for each covered service being performed by a covered employee on behalf of such employer; (ii) be based on a template developed by the Secretary not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act; (iii) include, at a minimum, a description of— (I) the violent incident (including environmental risk factors present at the time of the incident); (II) the date, time, and location of the incident, and the names and job titles of involved employees; (III) the nature and extent of injuries to covered employees; (IV) a classification of the perpetrator who committed the violence, including whether the perpetrator was— (aa) a patient, client, resident, or customer of a covered employer; (bb) a family member or friend of a patient, client, resident, or customer of a covered employer; (cc) a stranger; (dd) a coworker, supervisor, or manager of a covered employee; (ee) a partner, spouse, parent, or relative of a covered employee; or (ff) any other appropriate classification; (V) the type of violent incident (such as type 1 violence, type 2 violence, type 3 violence, or type 4 violence); and (VI) how the incident was abated; (iv) not later than 7 days after the employer learns of such incident, contain a record of each violent incident, which is updated to ensure completeness of such record; (v) be maintained for not less than 5 years; and (vi) in the case of a violent incident involving a privacy concern case, protect the identity of employees in a manner consistent with section 1904.29(b) of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations (as such section is in effect on the date of enactment of this Act). (C) Annual summary (i) Covered employers Each covered employer shall prepare and submit to the Secretary an annual summary of each violent incident log for the preceding calendar year that shall— (I) with respect to each covered facility, and each covered service, for which such a log has been maintained, include— (aa) the total number of violent incidents; (bb) the number of recordable injuries related to such incidents; and (cc) the total number of hours worked by the covered employees for such preceding year; (II) be completed on a form provided by the Secretary; (III) be posted for 3 months beginning February 1 of each year in a manner consistent with the requirements of section 1904 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations (as such section is in effect on the date of enactment of this Act), relating to the posting of summaries of injury and illness logs; (IV) be located in a conspicuous place or places where notices to employees are customarily posted; and (V) not be altered, defaced, or covered by other material. (ii) Secretary Not later than 1 year after the promulgation of the interim final standard under section 101(a), the Secretary shall make available a platform for the electronic submission of annual summaries required under this subparagraph. (5) Annual report (A) Report to Secretary Not later than February 15 of each year, each covered employer shall report to the Secretary, on a form provided by the Secretary, the frequency, quantity, and severity of workplace violence, and any incident response and post-incident investigation (including abatement measures) for the incidents set forth in the annual summary of the violent incident log described in paragraph (4)(C). The contents of the report of the Secretary to Congress shall not disclose any confidential information. (B) Report to congress Not later than 6 months after February 15 of each year, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a summary of the reports received under subparagraph (A). (6) Annual evaluation Each covered employer shall conduct an annual written evaluation, conducted with the full, active participation of covered employees and employee representatives, of— (A) the implementation and effectiveness of the Plan, including a review of the violent incident log; and (B) compliance with training required by each standard described in section 101, and specified in the Plan. (7) Plan updates Each covered employer shall incorporate changes to the Plan, in a manner consistent with paragraph (1)(A)(i) and based on findings from the most recent annual evaluation conducted under paragraph (6), as appropriate. (8) Anti-retaliation (A) Policy Each covered employer shall adopt a policy prohibiting any person (including an agent of the employer) from the discrimination or retaliation described in subparagraph (B). (B) Prohibition No covered employer shall discriminate or retaliate against any employee for— (i) reporting a workplace violence incident, threat, or concern to, or seeking assistance or intervention with respect to such incident, threat, or concern from, the employer, law enforcement, local emergency services, or a local, State, or Federal Government agency; or (ii) exercising any other rights under this paragraph. (C) Enforcement This paragraph shall be enforced in the same manner and to the same extent as any standard promulgated under section 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (29 U.S.C. 655(b)).