Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act

This bill would require the Labor Department to set a national workplace violence prevention rule for health care and social services. It orders an interim rule within one year that takes effect within 30 days of being issued; if it’s late, the bill’s protections kick in and are enforced like a safety rule. A final rule must follow within 42 months, and the rules must draw from OSHA’s 2015 guidelines for these workers .

Who is covered includes hospitals, nursing homes and long-term care, mental health and substance use treatment, clinics in jails or detention centers, community care settings, and freestanding ER centers. It also covers home health, hospice, and other field work, plus emergency services and transport (including firefighters and emergency responders), and similar federal facilities. Stand‑alone doctor or dentist offices are not included, nor are child day care services, and people who privately hire a caregiver in their home are not covered as employers .

Key points

• What changes: Employers must create a written prevention plan within 6 months of the interim rule. Plans must assess risks, fix hazards quickly (like alarms, secure entries, better lighting, working in teams, and flagging clients with a history of violence), set up reporting and emergency procedures (including for firearms or other weapons), provide medical care and counseling after incidents, and investigate what happened. Workers must get training every year and when job duties change; new hires are trained before starting. Some training can be live video if in‑person isn’t practical. Employers must keep a violent‑incident log, post a yearly summary for workers to see, and send reports to the Labor Department. Retaliation for reporting safety concerns is banned .
• Who is affected: Health care and social service workers and their employers, plus emergency medical services and similar federal workplaces; not small private medical offices, child day care, or private households that hire caregivers .
• When: Interim rule due within 1 year (effective within 30 days), proposed rule within 2 years, final rule within 42 months. If the interim rule is missed, the bill’s protections apply in the meantime .

Also, hospitals and skilled nursing facilities that take Medicare funds but aren’t otherwise under federal workplace‑safety law must follow these rules starting one year after the interim rule is issued.