Bill Text: CA AB2729 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Emergency medical services: workplace violence prevention.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-19 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB2729 Detail]
Download: California-2021-AB2729-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 10, 2022 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2729
| Introduced by Assembly Member Rodriguez |
February 18, 2022 |
An act to amend Section 880 6401.8 of the Labor Code, relating to employment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2729, as amended, Rodriguez.
Employment: emergency ambulance services. Emergency medical services: workplace violence prevention.
Existing law establishes law, the Emergency Ambulance Employee Safety and Preparedness Act with the purpose of enhancing public health and safety by ensuring that emergency ambulance employees, such as EMTs and paramedics, receive adequate training, meal and rest time, and mental health benefits, and that they are available to respond to 911 emergency-type requests for medical assistance at all times. Act, added by initiative measure enacted by the voters by Proposition 11 at the November 6, 2018, statewide general election, requires
every emergency ambulance employee, such as emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics, to receive employer-paid training in specified areas, including preventing violence against emergency ambulance employees and patients.
Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, imposes safety responsibilities on employers and employees, including maintaining an effective injury prevention program. Existing law also requires the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to adopt standards developed by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health that require specified types of hospitals to adopt a workplace violence prevention plan as part of the hospital’s injury and illness prevention plan to protect health care workers and other facility personnel from aggressive and violent behavior. Existing law also requires the division
to annually post a report on its internet website containing specified information regarding violent incidents at hospitals.
This bill would require the division, upon appropriation of funds, to develop educational materials about the regulation of workplace violence in health care in the context of emergency medical services and medical transport, to educate workers on their protections under the law, and to promote employer compliance. The bill would require the educational materials to be posted on the division’s internet website. The bill would also require the division, upon appropriation of funds, to commission a study to determine best practices to address and mitigate workplace violence against emergency medical services and medical transport, as specified.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to the provision naming that act.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee:Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 6401.8 of the Labor Code is amended to read:6401.8.
(a) The standards board, no later than July 1, 2016, shall adopt standards developed by the division that require a hospital licensed pursuant to subdivision (a), (b), or (f) of Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code, except as exempted by subdivision (d), to adopt a workplace violence prevention plan as a part of its injury and illness prevention plan to protect health care workers and other facility personnel from aggressive and violent behavior.(b) The standards adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include all of the following:
(1) A requirement that the workplace violence prevention plan be in effect at all times in all patient care units, including inpatient and outpatient settings
and clinics on the hospital’s license.
(2) A definition of workplace violence that includes, but is not limited to, both of the following:
(A) The use of physical force against a hospital employee by a patient or a person accompanying a patient that results in, or has a high likelihood of resulting in, injury, psychological trauma, or stress, regardless of whether the employee sustains an injury.
(B) An incident involving the use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon, regardless of whether the employee sustains an injury.
(3) A requirement that a workplace violence prevention plan include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(A) Personnel education and training policies that
require all health care workers who provide direct care to patients to, at least annually, receive education and training that is designed to provide an opportunity for interactive questions and answers with a person knowledgeable about the workplace violence prevention plan. The education and training shall cover topics that include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
(i) How to recognize potential for violence, and when and how to seek assistance to prevent or respond to violence.
(ii) How to report violent incidents to law enforcement.
(iii) Any resources available to employees for coping with incidents of violence, including, but not limited to, critical incident stress debriefing or employee assistance programs.
(B) A system for
responding to, and investigating violent incidents and situations involving violence or the risk of violence.
(C) A system to, at least annually, assess and improve upon factors that may contribute to, or help prevent workplace violence, including, but not limited to, the following factors:
(i) Staffing, including staffing patterns and patient classification systems that contribute to, or are insufficient to address, the risk of violence.
(ii) Sufficiency of security systems, including alarms, emergency response, and security personnel availability.
(iii) Job design, equipment, and facilities.
(iv) Security risks associated with specific units, areas of the facility with uncontrolled
access, late-night or early morning shifts, and employee security in areas surrounding the facility such as employee parking areas.
(4) A requirement that all workplace violence prevention plans be developed in conjunction with affected employees, including their recognized collective bargaining agents, if any.
(5) A requirement that all temporary personnel be oriented to the workplace violence prevention plan.
(6) Provisions prohibiting hospitals from disallowing an employee from, or taking punitive or retaliatory action against an employee for, seeking assistance and intervention from local emergency services or law enforcement when a violent incident occurs.
(7) A requirement that hospitals document, and retain for a period of five years, a written
record of any violent incident against a hospital employee, regardless of whether the employee sustains an injury, and regardless of whether the report is made by the employee who is the subject of the violent incident or any other employee.
(8) A requirement that a hospital report violent incidents to the division. If the incident results in injury, involves the use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon, or presents an urgent or emergent threat to the welfare, health, or safety of hospital personnel, the hospital shall report the incident to the division within 24 hours. All other incidents of violence shall be reported to the division within 72 hours.
(c) By January 1, 2017, and annually thereafter, the division, in a manner that protects patient and employee confidentiality, shall post a report on its Internet Web site
internet website containing information regarding violent incidents at hospitals, that includes, but is not limited to, the total number of reports, and which specific hospitals filed reports, pursuant to paragraph (8) of subdivision (b), the outcome of any related inspection or investigation, the citations levied against a hospital based on a violent incident, and recommendations of the division on the prevention of violent incidents at hospitals.
(d) This section shall not apply to a hospital operated by the State Department of State Hospitals, the State Department of Developmental Services, or the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
(e) This section does not limit the authority of the standards board to adopt standards to protect employees from workplace violence. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to preclude the
standards board from adopting standards that require other employers, including, but not limited to, employers exempted from this section by subdivision (d), to adopt plans to protect employees from workplace violence. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to preclude the standards board from adopting standards that require an employer subject to this section, or any other employer, to adopt a workplace violence prevention plan that includes elements or requirements additional to, or broader in scope than, those described in this section.
(f) (1) The division, upon appropriation of funds for the purposes of this paragraph, shall develop educational materials about the regulation of workplace violence in health care in the context of emergency medical services and medical transport, with an emphasis on paramedics and emergency medical
technicians (EMTs), to educate workers on their protections under the law and promote employer compliance. The educational materials shall be posted on the division’s internet website.
(2) The division, upon appropriation of funds for the purposes of this paragraph, shall commission a study to determine best practices to address and mitigate workplace violence against emergency medical services and medical transport, with an emphasis on paramedics and EMTs.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Emergency Ambulance Employee Safety and Preparedness Act.
