Bills focuses on workplace violence at health care facilities

Pennsylvania lawmakers have filed legislation that would require health care facilities to establish workplace violence prevention committees to better protect employees.

House Bill 1088, filed Monday, would cover hospitals, long-term-care nursing facilities and home health care agencies.

The committees would be tasked with performing annual risk assessments to determine what factors might place workers at risk of workplace violence.

The bill calls for non-managerial employees who engage in direct patient care to make up half of the membership of the committees, with a mix of both union and non-union members.

The measure would require that the committees meet quarterly to review incidents of workplace violence and suggest solutions. It would also require the committees to file regular reports with the state Department of Labor and Industry.

The bill would authorize the department to impose penalties on any health care facility found to be acting in bad faith in not implementing safety recommendations put forth by the committees.