IB 

Union Calendar No. 239 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1309 

[Report No. 116–296, Part I] 

To direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health 

standard that requires covered employers within the health care and 

social service industries to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 19, 2019 

Mr. COURTNEY (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. WILSON

of Florida, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. WILD, Ms. OMAR, Mr. 

GARAMENDI, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. NORTON, 

Mr. HIMES, Mr. POCAN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. CLARKE of New York, 

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. LIPINSKI, 

Mr. SIRES, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. LARSON of 

Connecticut, and Ms. HAALAND) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to 

the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means, for a 

period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

NOVEMBER 18, 2019 

Additional sponsors: Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. DAVIS of California, 

Ms. PORTER, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. 

LEE of California, Mr. MOULTON, Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. 

LOFGREN, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mrs. 

NAPOLITANO, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. DEAN, Ms. HILL of California, Mrs. 

HAYES, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Ms. MOORE, Mr. RYAN, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. 

MENG, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. ROSE of New 

York, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. 

CARSON of Indiana, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. SHALALA, Mrs. 

LAWRENCE, Mr. CASE, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. PAPPAS, 

Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Mr. CRIST, Ms. SLOTKIN, Ms. STEFANIK, Ms. BROWNLEY

of California, Mr. GOLDEN, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, 


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Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of 

Georgia, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RUSH, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. JUDY CHU

of California, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. NORCROSS, 

Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Ms. SCHRIER, Mr. HARDER of California, Mr. TRONE, Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL, Mr. RUIZ, Ms. KUSTER of 

New Hampshire, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mrs. AXNE, 

Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. KIM, Ms. JOHNSON of 

Texas, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. BROWN

of Maryland, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. TED LIEU

of California, Ms. FINKENAUER, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. WATERS, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. LAWSON

of Florida, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. 

LOEBSACK, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. TITUS, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. WATSON

COLEMAN, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. SOTO, Ms. SPANBERGER, Miss 

RICE of New York, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. COOPER, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, 

Ms. BASS, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. TONKO, 

Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. DELBENE, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. GREEN of 

Texas, Mr. PHILLIPS, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. SMITH of 

Washington, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. BERA, Mrs. MURPHY

of Florida, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. KILDEE, 

Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. COX of California, Mr. CROW, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, 

Ms. SPEIER, Mr. HECK, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. 

WELCH, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. VELA, Mr. 

PERLMUTTER, Mr. ROUDA, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. CLAY, 

Ms. TLAIB, Mr. BACON, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. 

SCHIFF, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. KILMER, Mr. MICHAEL F. 

DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BRINDISI, Mr. KIND, Mr. PETERS, Mr. 

KEATING, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. SUOZZI, 

Mr. COLE, Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. 

YOUNG, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. LEVIN of California, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. 

VEASEY, Mr. DELGADO, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. CONNOLLY, 

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. NADLER, Mr. SWALWELL

of California, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. SCHRADER, Ms. TORRES

SMALL of New Mexico, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Ms. KENDRA

S. HORN of Oklahoma, Mr. LAMB, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Ms. GARCIA

of Texas, Mr. LEWIS, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. STANTON, Ms. SHERRILL, 

Mr. BEYER, Mr. EVANS, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. FRANKEL, Mr. 

MCEACHIN, Mrs. LURIA, Mr. STAUBER, Mrs. FLETCHER, Ms. ESCOBAR, 

Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, and Mr. 

CASTEN of Illinois 


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NOVEMBER 18, 2019 

Reported from the Committee on Education and Labor with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

NOVEMBER 18, 2019 

Committees on Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 19, 2019] 


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A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational 

safety and health standard that requires covered employers within the health care and social service industries 

to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace 

violence prevention plan, and for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Workplace Violence Pre5 vention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

TITLE I—WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION STANDARD 

Sec. 101. Workplace violence prevention standard. 

Sec. 102. Scope and application. 

Sec. 103. Requirements for workplace violence prevention standard. 

Sec. 104. Rules of construction. 

Sec. 105. Other definitions. 

TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT 

Sec. 201. Application of the workplace violence prevention standard to certain facilities receiving Medicare funds. 

8 TITLE I—WORKPLACE VIOLENCE 

9 PREVENTION STANDARD 

10 SEC. 101. WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION STANDARD. 

11 (a) INTERIM FINAL STANDARD.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

14 Labor shall promulgate an interim final standard on 

15 workplace violence prevention— 

16 (A) to require certain employers in the 

17 health care and social service sectors, and certain 

18 employers in sectors that conduct activities simi19 lar to the activities in the health care and social 


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1 service sectors, to develop and implement a com2 prehensive workplace violence prevention plan to 

3 protect health care workers, social service work4 ers, and other personnel from workplace violence; 

5 and 

6 (B) that shall, at a minimum, be based on 

7 the Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence 

8 for Health care and Social Service Workers pub9 lished by the Occupational Safety and Health 

10 Administration of the Department of Labor in 

11 2015 and adhere to the requirements of this title. 

12 (2) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER STATUTORY RE13 QUIREMENTS.—The following shall not apply to the 

14 promulgation of the interim final standard under this 

15 subsection: 

16 (A) The requirements applicable to occupa17 tional safety and health standards under section 

18 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 

19 of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655(b)). 

20 (B) The requirements of chapters 5 and 6 of 

21 title 5, United States Code, and titles 2 and 42, 

22 United States Code. 

23 (3) NOTICE AND COMMENT.—Notwithstanding 

24 paragraph (2)(B), the Secretary shall, prior to pro25 mulgating the interim final standard under this subVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1309.RH H1309

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1 section, provide notice in the Federal Register of the 

2 interim final standard and a 30-day period for pub3 lic comment. 

4 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE OF INTERIM STANDARD.— 

5 The interim final standard shall— 

6 (A) take effect on a date that is not later 

7 than 30 days after promulgation, except that 

8 such interim final standard may include a rea9 sonable phase-in period for the implementation 

10 of required engineering controls that take effect 

11 after such date; 

12 (B) be enforced in the same manner and to 

13 the same extent as any standard promulgated 

14 under section 6(b) of the Occupational Safety 

15 and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655(b)); and 

16 (C) be in effect until the final standard de17 scribed in subsection (b) becomes effective and 

18 enforceable. 

19 (5) FAILURE TO PROMULGATE.—If an interim 

20 final standard described in paragraph (1) is not pro21 mulgated not later than 1 year of the date of enact22 ment of this Act, the provisions of this title shall be 

23 in effect and enforced in the same manner and to the 

24 same extent as any standard promulgated under sec25 tion 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 


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1 (29 U.S.C. 655(b)) until such provisions are super2 seded in whole by an interim final standard promul3 gated by the Secretary that meets the requirements of 

4 paragraph (1). 

5 (b) FINAL STANDARD.— 

6 (1) PROPOSED STANDARD.—Not later than 2 

7 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec8 retary of Labor shall, pursuant to section 6 of the Oc9 cupational Safety and Health Act (29 U.S.C. 655), 

10 promulgate a proposed standard on workplace vio11 lence prevention— 

12 (A) for the purposes described in subsection 

13 (a)(1)(A); and 

14 (B) that shall include, at a minimum, the 

15 elements contained in the interim final standard 

16 promulgated under subsection (a). 

17 (2) FINAL STANDARD.—Not later than 42 months 

18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

19 shall promulgate a final standard on such proposed 

20 standard that shall— 

21 (A) provide no less protection than any 

22 workplace violence standard adopted by a State 

23 plan that has been approved by the Secretary 

24 under section 18 of the Occupational Safety and 

25 Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 667); and 


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1 (B) be effective and enforceable in the same 

2 manner and to the same extent as any standard 

3 promulgated under section 6(b) of the Occupa4 tional Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 

5 655(b)). 

6 SEC. 102. SCOPE AND APPLICATION. 

7 In this title: 

8 (1) COVERED FACILITY.—The term ‘‘covered fa9 cility’’ includes the following: 

10 (A) Any hospital, including any specialty 

11 hospital, in-patient or outpatient setting, or clin12 ic operating within a hospital license, or any 

13 setting that provides outpatient services. 

14 (B) Any residential treatment facility, in15 cluding any nursing home, skilled nursing facil16 ity, hospice facility, and long-term care facility. 

17 (C) Any non-residential treatment or serv18 ice setting. 

19 (D) Any medical treatment or social service 

20 setting or clinic at a correctional or detention fa21 cility. 

22 (E) Any community care setting, including 

23 a community-based residential facility, group 

24 home, and mental health clinic. 

25 (F) Any psychiatric treatment facility. 


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1 (G) Any drug abuse or substance use dis2 order treatment center. 

3 (H) Any independent freestanding emer4 gency centers. 

5 (I) Any facility described in subparagraphs 

6 (A) through (H) operated by a Federal Govern7 ment agency and required to comply with occu8 pational safety and health standards pursuant to 

9 section 1960 of title 29, Code of Federal Regula10 tions (as such section is in effect on the date of 

11 enactment of this Act). 

12 (J) Any other facility the Secretary deter13 mines should be covered under the standards pro14 mulgated under section 101. 

15 (2) COVERED SERVICES.—The term ‘‘covered 

16 service’’ includes the following services and oper17 ations: 

18 (A) Any services and operations provided in 

19 any field work setting, including home health 

20 care, home-based hospice, and home-based social 

21 work. 

22 (B) Any emergency services and transport, 

23 including such services provided by firefighters 

24 and emergency responders. 


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1 (C) Any services described in subparagraphs 

2 (A) and (B) performed by a Federal Government 

3 agency and required to comply with occupa4 tional safety and health standards pursuant to 

5 section 1960 of title 29, Code of Federal Regula6 tions (as such section is in effect on the date of 

7 enactment of this Act). 

8 (D) Any other services and operations the 

9 Secretary determines should be covered under the 

10 standards promulgated under section 101. 

11 (3) COVERED EMPLOYER.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered em13 ployer’’ includes a person (including a con14 tractor, subcontractor, a temporary service firm, 

15 or an employee leasing entity) that employs an 

16 individual to work at a covered facility or to 

17 perform covered services. 

18 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘covered em19 ployer’’ does not include an individual who pri20 vately employs, in the individual’s residence, a 

21 person to perform covered services for the indi22 vidual or a family member of the individual. 

23 (4) COVERED EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘covered 

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1 ered employer to work at a covered facility or to per2 form covered services. 

3 SEC. 103. REQUIREMENTS FOR WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PRE4 VENTION STANDARD. 

5 Each standard described in section 101 shall include, 

6 at a minimum, the following requirements: 

7 (1) WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION PLAN.— 

8 Not later than 6 months after the date of promulga9 tion of the interim final standard under section 

10 101(a), a covered employer shall develop, implement, 

11 and maintain an effective written workplace violence 

12 prevention plan for covered employees at each covered 

13 facility and for covered employees performing a cov14 ered service on behalf of such employer, which meets 

15 the following: 

16 (A) PLAN DEVELOPMENT.—Each Plan 

17 shall— 

18 (i) be developed and implemented with 

19 the meaningful participation of direct care 

20 employees, other employees, and employee 

21 representatives, for all aspects of the Plan; 

22 (ii) be tailored and specific to condi23 tions and hazards for the covered facility or 

24 the covered service, including patient-speVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1309.RH H1309

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1 cific risk factors and risk factors specific to 

2 each work area or unit; and 

3 (iii) be suitable for the size, com4 plexity, and type of operations at the cov5 ered facility or for the covered service, and 

6 remain in effect at all times. 

7 (B) PLAN CONTENT.—Each Plan shall in8 clude procedures and methods for the following: 

9 (i) Identification of the individual re10 sponsible for implementation of the Plan. 

11 (ii) With respect to each work area and 

12 unit at the covered facility or while covered 

13 employees are performing the covered serv14 ice, risk assessment and identification of 

15 workplace violence risks and hazards to em16 ployees exposed to such risks and hazards 

17 (including environmental risk factors and 

18 patient-specific risk factors), which shall 

19 be— 

20 (I) informed by past violent inci21 dents specific to such covered facility 

22 or such covered service; and 

23 (II) conducted with, at a min24 imum— 

25 (aa) direct care employees; 


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1 (bb) where applicable, the 

2 representatives of such employees; 

3 and 

4 (cc) the employer. 

5 (iii) Hazard prevention, engineering 

6 controls, or work practice controls to correct 

7 hazards, in a timely manner, applying in8 dustrial hygiene principles of the hierarchy 

9 of controls, which— 

10 (I) may include security and 

11 alarm systems, adequate exit routes, 

12 monitoring systems, barrier protection, 

13 established areas for patients and cli14 ents, lighting, entry procedures, staff15 ing and working in teams, and systems 

16 to identify and flag clients with a his17 tory of violence; and 

18 (II) shall ensure that employers 

19 correct, in a timely manner, hazards 

20 identified in any violent incident in21 vestigation described in paragraph (2) 

22 and any annual report described in 

23 paragraph (5). 


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1 (iv) Reporting, incident response, and 

2 post-incident investigation procedures, in3 cluding procedures— 

4 (I) for employees to report work5 place violence risks, hazards, and inci6 dents; 

7 (II) for employers to respond to 

8 reports of workplace violence; 

9 (III) for employers to perform a 

10 post-incident investigation and debrief11 ing of all reports of workplace violence 

12 with the participation of employees 

13 and their representatives; and 

14 (IV) to provide medical care or 

15 first aid to affected employees. 

16 (v) Procedures for emergency response, 

17 including procedures for threats of mass 

18 casualties and procedures for incidents in19 volving a firearm or a dangerous weapon. 

20 (vi) Procedures for communicating 

21 with and training the covered employees on 

22 workplace violence hazards, threats, and 

23 work practice controls, the employer’s plan, 

24 and procedures for confronting, responding 

25 to, and reporting workplace violence threats, 


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1 incidents, and concerns, and employee 

2 rights. 

3 (vii) Procedures for— 

4 (I) ensuring the coordination of 

5 risk assessment efforts, Plan develop6 ment, and implementation of the Plan 

7 with other employers who have employ8 ees who work at the covered facility or 

9 who are performing the covered service; 

10 and 

11 (II) determining which covered 

12 employer or covered employers shall be 

13 responsible for implementing and com14 plying with the provisions of the 

15 standard applicable to the working 

16 conditions over which such employers 

17 have control. 

18 (viii) Procedures for conducting the 

19 annual evaluation under paragraph (6). 

20 (C) AVAILABILITY OF PLAN.—Each Plan 

21 shall be made available at all times to the cov22 ered employees who are covered under such Plan. 

23 (2) VIOLENT INCIDENT INVESTIGATION.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable 

25 after a workplace violence incident, risk, or hazVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1309.RH H1309

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1 ard of which a covered employer has knowledge, 

2 the employer shall conduct an investigation of 

3 such incident, risk, or hazard under which the 

4 employer shall— 

5 (i) review the circumstances of the in6 cident, risk, or hazard, and whether any 

7 controls or measures implemented pursuant 

8 to the Plan of the employer were effective; 

9 and 

10 (ii) solicit input from involved employ11 ees, their representatives, and supervisors 

12 about the cause of the incident, risk, or haz13 ard, and whether further corrective meas14 ures (including system-level factors) could 

15 have prevented the incident, risk, or hazard. 

16 (B) DOCUMENTATION.—A covered employer 

17 shall document the findings, recommendations, 

18 and corrective measures taken for each investiga19 tion conducted under this paragraph. 

20 (3) TRAINING AND EDUCATION.—With respect to 

21 the covered employees covered under a Plan of a cov22 ered employer, the employer shall provide training 

23 and education to such employees who may be exposed 

24 to workplace violence hazards and risks, which meet 

25 the following requirements: 


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1 (A) Annual training and education shall 

2 include information on the Plan, including iden3 tified workplace violence hazards, work practice 

4 control measures, reporting procedures, record 

5 keeping requirements, response procedures, and 

6 employee rights. 

7 (B) Additional hazard recognition training 

8 shall be provided for supervisors and managers 

9 to ensure they— 

10 (i) can recognize high-risk situations; 

11 and 

12 (ii) do not assign employees to situa13 tions that predictably compromise the safety 

14 of such employees. 

15 (C) Additional training shall be provided 

16 for each such covered employee whose job cir17 cumstances have changed, within a reasonable 

18 timeframe after such change. 

19 (D) Applicable training shall be provided 

20 under this paragraph for each new covered em21 ployee prior to the employee’s job assignment. 

22 (E) All training shall provide such employ23 ees opportunities to ask questions, give feedback 

24 on training, and request additional instruction, 

25 clarification, or other followup. 


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1 (F) All training shall be provided in-person 

2 and by an individual with knowledge of work3 place violence prevention and of the Plan, except 

4 that any annual training described in subpara5 graph (A) provided to an employee after the first 

6 year such training is provided to such employee 

7 may be conducted by live video if in-person 

8 training is impracticable. 

9 (G) All training shall be appropriate in 

10 content and vocabulary to the language, edu11 cational level, and literacy of such covered em12 ployees. 

13 (4) RECORDKEEPING AND ACCESS TO PLAN

14 RECORDS.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each covered employer 

16 shall— 

17 (i) maintain for not less than 5 

18 years— 

19 (I) records related to each Plan of 

20 the employer, including workplace vio21 lence risk and hazard assessments, and 

22 identification, evaluation, correction, 

23 and training procedures; 

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1 cording all workplace violence inci2 dents; and 

3 (III) records of all incident inves4 tigations as required under paragraph 

5 (2)(B); and 

6 (ii)(I) make such records and logs 

7 available, upon request, to covered employ8 ees and their representatives for examina9 tion and copying in accordance with section 

10 1910.1020 of title 29, Code of Federal Regu11 lations (as such section is in effect on the 

12 date of enactment of this Act), and in a 

13 manner consistent with HIPAA privacy 

14 regulations (defined in section 1180(b)(3) of 

15 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320d– 

16 9(b)(3))) and part 2 of title 42, Code of 

17 Federal Regulations (as such part is in ef18 fect on the date of enactment of this Act); 

19 and 

20 (II) ensure that any such records and 

21 logs that may be copied, transmitted elec22 tronically, or otherwise removed from the 

23 employer’s control for purposes of this 

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1 fication of any patient, resident, client, or 

2 other individual alleged to have committed 

3 a violent incident (including the individ4 ual’s name, address, electronic mail address, 

5 telephone number, or social security num6 ber, or other information that, alone or in 

7 combination with other publicly available 

8 information, reveals such individual’s iden9 tity). 

10 (B) VIOLENT INCIDENT LOG DESCRIP11 TION.—Each violent incident log shall— 

12 (i) be maintained by a covered em13 ployer for each covered facility controlled by 

14 the employer and for each covered service 

15 being performed by a covered employee on 

16 behalf of such employer; 

17 (ii) be based on a template developed 

18 by the Secretary not later than 1 year after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act; 

20 (iii) include, at a minimum, a descrip21 tion of— 

22 (I) the violent incident (including 

23 environmental risk factors present at 

24 the time of the incident); 


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1 (II) the date, time, and location of 

2 the incident, and the names and job ti3 tles of involved employees; 

4 (III) the nature and extent of in5 juries to covered employees; 

6 (IV) a classification of the perpe7 trator who committed the violence, in8 cluding whether the perpetrator was— 

9 (aa) a patient, client, resi10 dent, or customer of a covered em11 ployer; 

12 (bb) a family or friend of a 

13 patient, client, resident, or cus14 tomer of a covered employer; 

15 (cc) a stranger; 

16 (dd) a coworker, supervisor, 

17 or manager of a covered employee; 

18 (ee) a partner, spouse, par19 ent, or relative of a covered em20 ployee; or 

21 (ff) any other appropriate 

22 classification; 

23 (V) the type of violent incident 

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1 lence, type 3 violence, or type 4 vio2 lence); and 

3 (VI) how the incident was abated; 

4 (iv) not later than 7 days after the em5 ployer learns of such incident, contain a 

6 record of each violent incident, which is up7 dated to ensure completeness of such record; 

8 (v) be maintained for not less than 5 

9 years; and 

10 (vi) in the case of a violent incident 

11 involving a privacy concern case, protect 

12 the identity of employees in a manner con13 sistent with section 1904.29(b) of title 29, 

14 Code of Federal Regulations (as such section 

15 is in effect on the date of enactment of this 

16 Act). 

17 (C) ANNUAL SUMMARY.— 

18 (i) COVERED EMPLOYERS.—Each cov19 ered employer shall prepare an annual 

20 summary of each violent incident log for the 

21 preceding calendar year that shall— 

22 (I) with respect to each covered fa23 cility, and each covered service, for 

24 which such a log has been maintained, 

25 include the total number of violent inVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1309.RH H1309

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1 cidents, the number of recordable inju2 ries related to such incidents, and the 

3 total number of hours worked by the 

4 covered employees for such preceding 

5 year; 

6 (II) be completed on a form pro7 vided by the Secretary; 

8 (III) be posted for three months 

9 beginning February 1 of each year in 

10 a manner consistent with the require11 ments of section 1904 of title 29, Code 

12 of Federal Regulations (as such section 

13 is in effect on the date of enactment of 

14 this Act), relating to the posting of 

15 summaries of injury and illness logs; 

16 (IV) be located in a conspicuous 

17 place or places where notices to em18 ployees are customarily posted; and 

19 (V) not be altered, defaced, or cov20 ered by other material. 

21 (ii) SECRETARY.—Not later than 1 

22 year after the promulgation of the interim 

23 final standard under section 101(a), the 

24 Secretary shall make available a platform 


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1 for the electronic submission of annual sum2 maries required under this paragraph. 

3 (5) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than February 

4 15 of each year, each covered employer shall report to 

5 the Secretary, the frequency, quantity, and severity of 

6 workplace violence, and any incident response and 

7 post-incident investigation (including abatement 

8 measures) for the incidents set forth in the annual 

9 summary of the violent incident log described in 

10 paragraph (4)(C). 

11 (6) ANNUAL EVALUATION.—Each covered em12 ployer shall conduct an annual written evaluation, 

13 conducted with the full, active participation of cov14 ered employees and employee representatives, of— 

15 (A) the implementation and effectiveness of 

16 the Plan, including a review of the violent inci17 dent log; and 

18 (B) compliance with training required by 

19 each standard described in section 101, and spec20 ified in the Plan. 

21 (7) ANTI-RETALIATION.— 

22 (A) POLICY.—Each covered employer shall 

23 adopt a policy prohibiting any person (includ24 ing an agent of the employer) from discrimi25 nating or retaliating against any employee for 


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1 reporting, or seeking assistance or intervention 

2 from, a workplace violence incident, threat, or 

3 concern to the employer, law enforcement, local 

4 emergency services, or a government agency, or 

5 participating in an incident investigation. 

6 (B) PROHIBITION.—No covered employer 

7 shall discriminate or retaliate against any em8 ployee for— 

9 (i) reporting a workplace violence inci10 dent, threat, or concern to, or seeking assist11 ance or intervention with respect to such in12 cident, threat, or concern from, the em13 ployer, law enforcement, local emergency 

14 services, or a local, State, or Federal gov15 ernment agency; or 

16 (ii) exercising any other rights under 

17 this paragraph. 

18 (C) ENFORCEMENT.—This paragraph shall 

19 be enforced in the same manner and to the same 

20 extent as any standard promulgated under sec21 tion 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health 

22 Act (29 U.S.C. 655(b)). 

23 SEC. 104. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

24 Notwithstanding section 18 of the Occupational Safety 

25 and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 667)— 


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1 (1) nothing in this title shall be construed to cur2 tail or limit authority of the Secretary under any 

3 other provision of the law; and 

4 (2) the rights, privileges, or remedies of covered 

5 employees shall be in addition to the rights, privi6 leges, or remedies provided under any Federal or 

7 State law, or any collective bargaining agreement. 

8 SEC. 105. OTHER DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this title: 

10 (1) WORKPLACE VIOLENCE.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘workplace vi12 olence’’ means any act of violence or threat of vi13 olence, without regard to intent, that occurs at a 

14 covered facility or while a covered employee per15 forms a covered service. 

16 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘workplace vi17 olence’’ does not include lawful acts of self-de18 fense or lawful acts of defense of others. 

19 (C) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘workplace vio20 lence’’ includes— 

21 (i) the threat or use of physical force 

22 against a covered employee that results in 

23 or has a high likelihood of resulting in in24 jury, psychological trauma, or stress, with25 out regard to whether the covered employee 


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1 sustains an injury, psychological trauma, 

2 or stress; and 

3 (ii) an incident involving the threat or 

4 use of a firearm or a dangerous weapon, in5 cluding the use of common objects as weap6 ons, without regard to whether the employee 

7 sustains an injury, psychological trauma, 

8 or stress. 

9 (2) TYPE 1 VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘type 1 vio10 lence’’— 

11 (A) means workplace violence directed at a 

12 covered employee at a covered facility or while 

13 performing a covered service by an individual 

14 who has no legitimate business at the covered fa15 cility or with respect to such covered service; and 

16 (B) includes violent acts by any individual 

17 who enters the covered facility or worksite where 

18 a covered service is being performed with the in19 tent to commit a crime. 

20 (3) TYPE 2 VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘type 2 vio21 lence’’ means workplace violence directed at a covered 

22 employee by customers, clients, patients, students, in23 mates, or any individual for whom a covered facility 

24 provides services or for whom the employee performs 

25 covered services. 


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1 (4) TYPE 3 VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘type 3 vio2 lence’’ means workplace violence directed at a covered 

3 employee by a present or former employee, supervisor, 

4 or manager. 

5 (5) TYPE 4 VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘type 4 vio6 lence’’ means workplace violence directed at a covered 

7 employee by an individual who is not an employee, 

8 but has or is known to have had a personal relation9 ship with such employee, or with a customer, client, 

10 patient, student, inmate, or any individual for whom 

11 a covered facility provides services or for whom the 

12 employee performs covered services. 

13 (6) THREAT OF VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘threat of 

14 violence’’ means a statement or conduct that— 

15 (A) causes an individual to fear for such in16 dividual’s safety because there is a reasonable 

17 possibility the individual might be physically in18 jured; and 

19 (B) serves no legitimate purpose. 

20 (7) ALARM.—The term ‘‘alarm’’ means a me21 chanical, electrical, or electronic device that does not 

22 rely upon an employee’s vocalization in order to alert 

23 others. 

24 (8) DANGEROUS WEAPON.—The term ‘‘dangerous 

25 weapon’’ means an instrument capable of inflicting 


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1 death or serious bodily injury, without regard to 

2 whether such instrument was designed for that pur3 pose. 

4 (9) ENGINEERING CONTROLS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘engineering 

6 controls’’ means an aspect of the built space or 

7 a device that removes a hazard from the work8 place or creates a barrier between a covered em9 ployee and the hazard. 

10 (B) INCLUSIONS.—For purposes of reducing 

11 workplace violence hazards, the term ‘‘engineer12 ing controls’’ includes electronic access controls 

13 to employee occupied areas, weapon detectors 

14 (installed or handheld), enclosed workstations 

15 with shatter-resistant glass, deep service 

16 counters, separate rooms or areas for high-risk 

17 patients, locks on doors, removing access to or se18 curing items that could be used as weapons, fur19 niture affixed to the floor, opaque glass in pa20 tient rooms (which protects privacy, but allows 

21 the health care provider to see where the patient 

22 is before entering the room), closed-circuit tele23 vision monitoring and video recording, sight24 aids, and personal alarm devices. 

25 (10) ENVIRONMENTAL RISK FACTORS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘environ2 mental risk factors’’ means factors in the covered 

3 facility or area in which a covered service is per4 formed that may contribute to the likelihood or 

5 severity of a workplace violence incident. 

6 (B) CLARIFICATION.—Environmental risk 

7 factors may be associated with the specific task 

8 being performed or the work area, such as work9 ing in an isolated area, poor illumination or 

10 blocked visibility, and lack of physical barriers 

11 between individuals and persons at risk of com12 mitting workplace violence. 

13 (11) PATIENT-SPECIFIC RISK FACTORS.—The 

14 term ‘‘patient-specific risk factors’’ means factors spe15 cific to a patient that may increase the likelihood or 

16 severity of a workplace violence incident, including— 

17 (A) a patient’s treatment and medication 

18 status, and history of violence and use of drugs 

19 or alcohol; and 

20 (B) any conditions or disease processes of 

21 the patient that may cause the patient to experi22 ence confusion or disorientation, be non-respon23 sive to instruction, behave unpredictably, or en24 gage in disruptive, threatening, or violent behav25 ior. 


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1 (12) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Labor. 

3 (13) WORK PRACTICE CONTROLS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘work practice 

5 controls’’ means procedures and rules that are 

6 used to effectively reduce workplace violence haz7 ards. 

8 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘work practice 

9 controls’’ includes— 

10 (i) assigning and placing sufficient 

11 numbers of staff to reduce patient-specific 

12 Type 2 workplace violence hazards; 

13 (ii) provision of dedicated and avail14 able safety personnel such as security 

15 guards; 

16 (iii) employee training on workplace 

17 violence prevention methods and techniques 

18 to de-escalate and minimize violent behav19 ior; and 

20 (iv) employee training on procedures 

21 for response in the event of a workplace vio22 lence incident and for post-incident re23 sponse. 


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1 TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO THE 

2 SOCIAL SECURITY ACT 

3 SEC. 201. APPLICATION OF THE WORKPLACE VIOLENCE 

4 PREVENTION STANDARD TO CERTAIN FACILI5 TIES RECEIVING MEDICARE FUNDS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1866 of the Social Security 

7 Act (42 U.S.C. 1395cc) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

9 (A) in subparagraph (X), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

10 at the end; 

11 (B) in subparagraph (Y), by striking at the 

12 end the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (Y) the 

14 following new subparagraph: 

15 ‘‘(Z) in the case of hospitals that are not other16 wise subject to the Occupational Safety and Health 

17 Act of 1970 (or a State occupational safety and 

18 health plan that is approved under 18(b) of such Act) 

19 and skilled nursing facilities that are not otherwise 

20 subject to such Act (or such a State occupational safe21 ty and health plan), to comply with the Workplace 

22 Violence Prevention Standard (as promulgated under 

23 section 101 of the Workplace Violence Prevention for 

24 Health Care and Social Service Workers Act).’’; and 

25 (2) in subsection (b)(4)— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘and 

2 a hospital or skilled nursing facility that fails to 

3 comply with the requirement of subsection 

4 (a)(1)(Z) (relating to the Workplace Violence 

5 Prevention Standard)’’ after ‘‘Bloodborne Patho6 gens standard)’’; and 

7 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘(a)(1)(U)’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘(a)(1)(V)’’; and 

10 (ii) by inserting ‘‘(or, in the case of a 

11 failure to comply with the requirement of 

12 subsection (a)(1)(Z), for a violation of the 

13 Workplace Violence Prevention standard re14 ferred to in such subsection by a hospital or 

15 skilled nursing facility, as applicable, that 

16 is subject to the provisions of such Act)’’ be17 fore the period at the end. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by sub19 section (a) shall apply beginning on the date that is 1 year 

20 after the date of issuance of the interim final standard on 

21 workplace violence prevention required under section 101. 


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Union Calendar No. 239 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1309 

[Report No. 116–296, Part I] 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occuplan, and for other purposes. a comprehensive workplace violence prevention cial service industries to develop and implement covered employers within the health care and so- pational safety and health standard that requires 

NOVEMBER 18, 2019 

Reported from the Committee on Education and Labor 

N

with an amendment 

OVEMBER 18, 2019 

Committees on Energy and Commerce and Ways and 

to be printed Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered Means discharged; committed to the Committee of the 


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