An Act providing for violence prevention committees in health facilities, for duties of committees, for workplace violence reporting requirements and for powers and duties of the Department of Labor and Industry; and imposing fines and administrative penalties.

PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 974 PRINTER'S NO. 1597
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 926
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY KRUEGER, KOSIEROWSKI, PROBST, CURRY, VENKAT,
McNEILL, HILL-EVANS, SANCHEZ, ISAACSON, PIELLI, GIRAL, KHAN,
DONAHUE, HOHENSTEIN, BOYD, KENYATTA, WEBSTER, D. WILLIAMS,
O'MARA, MALAGARI, RIVERA, CIRESI, DEASY, WARREN, CERRATO,
DOUGHERTY, MULLINS, SCHLOSSBERG, BOROWSKI, NEILSON, WAXMAN,
MAYES, OTTEN, PARKER, ORTITAY, DALEY, SAPPEY, SMITH-WADE-EL,
T. DAVIS, MADDEN, FIEDLER, MEHAFFIE AND K.HARRIS,
MARCH 17, 2025
AS AMENDED ON SECOND CONSIDERATION, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
MAY 5, 2025
AN ACT
Providing for violence prevention committees in health
facilities, for duties of committees, for workplace violence
reporting requirements and for powers and duties of the
Department of Labor and Industry; and imposing fines and
administrative penalties.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Health Care
Workplace Violence Prevention Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Committee." The violence prevention committee established
by a health facility under this act.
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"Department." The Department of Labor and Industry of the
Commonwealth.
"Employee." An individual who is employed by a health
facility.
"Health facility." A hospital, long-term care nursing
facility, home health care agency, abortion facility, ambulatory
surgical facility, birth center or hospice, as those terms are
defined in section 802.1 of the act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130,
No.48), known as the Health Care Facilities Act. The term
includes a private psychiatric hospital and public psychiatric
hospital as those terms are defined in 55 Pa. Code § 1151.2
(relating to definitions).
"NONMANAGEMENT." CONCERNING AN EMPLOYEE WHO DOES NOT HAVE
THE AUTHORITY TO EXERCISE INDEPENDENT JUDGMENT IN THE AREAS OF
HIRING, FIRING, DISCIPLINING OR TRANSFERRING OTHER EMPLOYEES.
"Program." The workplace violence prevention program
established by a committee.
"Workplace violence." Violence or the threat of violence
against an employee that occurs during the course of employment
or is substantially related to employment.
Section 3. Violence prevention committee.
(a) Establishment.--Each health facility shall establish a
violence prevention committee to establish, review, administer
and provide guidance about a program relating to the prevention
of workplace violence at the health facility.
(b) Membership.--The committee shall be composed as follows:
(1) At least one member or designee of the committee
shall represent management and oversee implementation of the
program. The committee shall be led by two cochairs, one
representing management and one representing the union
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employees and nonunion employees in the case of a health
facility that has no union representing its employees.
(2) At least 50% of the members of the committee shall
be nonmanagerial NONMANAGEMENT employees primarily engaged in
direct patient care or clinical care services or employees
who interface with the public. The committee shall have a
proportional representation of union employees, selected by
their union, and nonunion employees, NONMANAGEMENT EMPLOYEES
elected by secret ballot by their peers. The proportional
representation shall incorporate all employees at risk of
becoming a victim of workplace violence and shall include
representation from all main areas of the health facility
that may be subject to workplace violence.
(3) The remaining members of the committee shall be
selected by management and shall have experience, expertise
or responsibility relevant to violence prevention or other
expertise that is considered beneficial to the committee.
(4) THE COMMITTEE SHALL CONSIST OF AN EQUAL NUMBER OF
MANAGEMENT AND NONMANAGEMENT EMPLOYEES. NONMANAGEMENT MEMBERS
MUST MIRROR THE DEPARTMENTS AND UNITS THAT MANAGEMENT
DESIGNATES AS MEMBERS TO THE COMMITTEE.
(c) Compensation.--A health facility shall provide paid time
to employees while the employees are participating in the
violence prevention committee.
Section 4. Duties of committee.
(a) Risk assessment evaluation.--
(1) Except as provided under paragraph (2), each
committee shall perform an initial risk assessment based on
an analysis of incidents of the prior five years and then
annually thereafter, as well as an evaluation of the factors
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that may put an employee at risk of workplace violence. Those
factors shall include, but not be limited to:
(i) Working in a public setting.
(ii) Guarding or maintaining property or
possessions.
(iii) Working in a high-crime area.
(iv) Working late at night or early in the morning.
(v) Using commuter lots that are not adequately lit
or frequently patrolled.
(vi) The existence of uncontrolled public access to
the workplace.
(vii) Working in a public area with individuals in
crisis.
(viii) Working in an area where a patient or
resident may exhibit violent behavior or where there has
been a pattern of violent behavior.
(ix) Working in a unit that does not have adequate
employee staffing levels.
(x) The existence or availability of a security
response team that is able to rapidly and effectively
respond to incidents of workplace violence.
(xi) Adequate training of employees to deal with
incidents of workplace violence.
(xii) The physical layout of the facility.
(2) The risk assessment may be performed by an outside
consultant to be paid by the health facility.
(b) Review.--Each committee shall meet quarterly to review
all incidents of workplace violence, to review compliance with
the program and the effectiveness of the program, to initiate
changes to the program where necessary and to perform any other
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duties required under this act. The committee shall report
annually the results of the reviews to the department together
with any changes to the program adopted by the committee. If no
changes are adopted in response to the review, the committee
shall report that fact to the department.
(c) Preparation of report and establishment of program.--
Each committee shall:
(1) Prepare a report from the risk assessment evaluation
and establish a written violence prevention program to
mitigate risks based on the assessment. If there is more than
one health facility within a system, there shall be a program
established for each health facility. The program shall be
updated annually.
(2) Develop and maintain a detailed, written violence
prevention plan that:
(i) identifies and tracks incidents of workplace
violence at the facility;
(ii) identifies workplace risks;
(iii) establishes a system to identify and flag
individuals with a history of violence; and
(iv) provides specific methods to address workplace
risks.
(3) Make the risk assessment report available to the
members of the committee.
(4) Establish a method to expedite reporting and review
of a report of workplace violence and make written
recommendations to the health facility management on
preventing additional incidents of similar workplace
violence.
(5) Promptly after adopting a violence prevention plan,
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file a copy of the plan with the department.
(d) Employee training.--The committee shall provide
appropriate employee training to employees at the time of hire
and annually thereafter.
Section 5. Reporting of workplace violence.
(a) Reporting.--An employee who reasonably believes that an
incident of workplace violence has occurred shall report the
occurrence of the incident in accordance with the violence
prevention plan of the health facility unless the employee knows
a report has already been made. The report shall be made
immediately after the occurrence or discovery of the incident of
workplace violence or as soon thereafter as reasonably
practicable.
(b) Local law enforcement reporting.--It shall be considered
a violation of this act to interfere with or discourage an
employee from exercising the employee's right to contact or file
a report with law enforcement regarding an incident of workplace
violence.
(c) Retaliation.--An employee who reports the occurrence of
an incident of workplace violence or encourages others to
provide information regarding an incident of workplace violence
under subsection (a) may not be subject to discrimination,
dismissal, discipline, discharge or any other decision adverse
to the employee, unless the employee knowingly makes a false
report of an incident of workplace violence or is the
perpetrator of an incident of workplace violence or other
prohibited workplace behavior that resulted in a report by
another employee.
(d) Maintenance of records.--A health facility shall
maintain a report of an incident of workplace violence,
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including records or documents regarding the report, for a
period of no less than three years. A health facility that fails
to comply with this subsection, including falsifying the
information required under section 9, shall be in violation of
this act and subject to the penalties specified under section 7.
Section 6. Distribution of reports of workplace violence.
A report of an incident of workplace violence that is
submitted to management or to the health facility shall be
provided to the committee within 72 hours of the submission of
the report.
Section 7. Penalties.
(a) Administrative fine.--The department may levy an
administrative fine on a health facility that violates this act
or any regulation adopted under this act. The fine shall be not
less than $1,000 and not more than $10,000 for each violation.
(b) Administrative order.--The department may order a health
facility to take an action that the department deems necessary
to correct a violation of this act, including payment of
restitution to an employee, a directive to change a policy or
procedure or a directive to remedy a retaliation prohibited
under section 5(c).
(c) Administrative agency law.--This section is subject to 2
Pa.C.S. Chs. 5 Subch. A (relating to practice and procedure of
Commonwealth agencies) and 7 Subch. A (relating to judicial
review of Commonwealth agency action).
Section 8. Remedies.
(a) General rule.--If a health facility has engaged in
conduct that causes or maintains a substantial risk of further
workplace violence, including failing to implement the
recommendations of a committee, a court may enjoin the health
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facility from engaging in the illegal activities and may order
any other relief that is appropriate, including, but not limited
to:
(1) reinstatement of an employee;
(2) removal of the offending party from the employee's
work environment;
(3) reimbursement for lost wages;
(4) medical expenses;
(5) compensation for emotional distress; and
(6) attorney fees.
(b) Reports to department.--
(1) If a committee concludes that a health facility has
failed to implement the safety recommendations of the
committee, the committee, by vote of a majority of the
members, may report the health facility's failure to the
department.
(2) If, after an investigation, the department
determines that the health facility is acting in bad faith
and failing to implement safety recommendations of the
committee, the department may impose penalties against the
health facility, including appropriate fines and
administrative penalties in accordance with section 7.
(3) Additionally, any individual has the ability to file
a complaint with the department for a violation of this act.
(4) If an activity, policy or practice has been reported
to management and, after reasonable opportunity for
correction, the problem has not been corrected or resolved
and an employee or a representative of the employees still
believes that a violation of the workplace violence
prevention program remains or that substantial risk of
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workplace violence exists, such employee or representative of
the employees may request an inspection by giving notice to
the department of such a violation or risk. Such notice and
request shall be in writing, shall specify with reasonable
particularity the grounds for the notice and shall be signed
by the employee or representative of employees. A copy of
such notice shall be provided to the employer, except that on
the request of the person giving notice, such person's name
shall be withheld. If the department finds such a complaint
to be credible, an inspection shall be made by the
department.
(5) A representative of the employer and employees shall
be given the opportunity to accompany the department
representative during the inspection.
Section 9. Subpoenas and inspections.
(a) Subpoenas.--The Secretary of Labor and Industry or a
designee who has investigatory subpoena authority may issue a
subpoena upon the application of an attorney of the Office of
General Counsel assigned by the department for the purpose of
investigating alleged violations of this act. The department may
make an application to the Commonwealth Court to enforce a
subpoena under this subsection. Nothing in this subsection shall
be construed to excuse a person from producing documents and
records as requested by the department under any other provision
of State law.
(b) Inspections.--The department may obtain information to
investigate an alleged violation of this act or determine
compliance with this act, including entering and inspecting a
health facility at a reasonable time for the purpose of
interviewing employees and inspecting and obtaining copies of
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records, reports, documents or other information in any medium.
Section 10. Effect on collective bargaining agreements.
This act may not be construed to:
(1) Supersede a current provision of an employee's
existing collective bargaining agreement which provides
greater rights and protection than prescribed by this act.
(2) Prevent any new provisions of a collective
bargaining agreement which provides greater rights and
protections from being implemented and applicable to an
employee.
Section 11. Postincident services.
Following an incident of workplace violence, a health
facility shall, at a minimum, offer immediate postincident
services, including any necessary acute medical treatment or
mental health services for each employee of the health facility
who is directly involved in the incident of workplace violence.
Section 12. Requirements.
(a) Signage required.--A health facility shall post signs
provided by the department at all public entrances of the health
facility to notify individuals entering the health facility that
the assault of an employee is considered a felony.
(b) Development of signs.--The department shall consult with
the health facility industry in developing the signs required
under subsection (a).
Section 13. Construction.
Nothing in this act shall be construed to supersede or
relieve a health facility from obligations and requirements set
forth under a Federal or State law, regulation, rule or
guideline governing health facilities.
Section 14. Rules and regulations.
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The department shall adopt rules and regulations necessary to
implement this act. The rules and regulations shall include
guidelines the department deems appropriate regarding workplace
violence prevention programs required under this act and related
to reporting and monitoring systems and employee training.
Section 15. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 180 days.
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