I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4266 
To direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health 
standard to reduce injuries to patients, nurses, and all other health 
care workers by establishing a safe patient handling, mobility, and injury 
prevention standard, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 16, 2015 
Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. WILSON of Florida, 
Mr. CLAY, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. DANNY K. 
DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. BEATTY, and Ms. GRAHAM) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce, 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 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational 
safety and health standard to reduce injuries to patients, 
nurses, and all other health care workers by establishing 
a safe patient handling, mobility, and injury prevention 
standard, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:44 Dec 21, 2015
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4266.IH
H4266
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Nurse and Health Care Worker Protection Act of 2015’’. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) In 2014, registered nurses ranked sixth 
among all occupations for the number of cases of 
musculoskeletal disorders resulting in days away 
from work, with 11,360 total cases. Nursing assist-
ants reported 20,020 cases in 2014, the second high-
est of any profession. The leading cause of these 
health care employees’ injuries is patient lifting, 
transferring, and repositioning injuries, which con-
stitute a significant risk to the health and welfare of 
those employees under the Occupational Safety and 
Health Act of 1970. 
(2) The physical demands of the nursing pro-
fession lead many nurses to leave the profession. 
Fifty-two percent of nurses complain of chronic back 
pain and 38 percent suffer from pain severe enough 
to require leave from work. Many nurses and other 
health care workers suffering back injury do not re-
turn to work. These consequences constitute a mate-
rial impairment of health for these employees under 
the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. 
(3) Patients are not at optimum levels of safety 
while being lifted, transferred, or repositioned manu-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:44 Dec 21, 2015
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4266.IH
H4266
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
ally. Appropriate mechanical lifts can substantially 
reduce skin tears and pressure ulcers suffered by pa-
tients and the frequency of patients being dropped, 
thus allowing patients a safer means to progress 
through their care and avoid disabling injuries due 
to unsafe practices. 
(4) The development of assistive patient han-
dling technology, equipment, and devices has essen-
tially rendered the act of strict manual patient han-
dling outdated and typically unnecessary as a func-
tion of nursing care. 
(5) A growing number of health care facilities 
that have incorporated patient handling technology 
and practices have reported positive results. Injuries 
among nursing staff and health care workers have 
dramatically declined at health care facilities imple-
menting safe patient handling technology, equip-
ment, devices, and practices. As a result, the number 
of lost work days due to injury and staff turnover 
has declined. Studies have also shown that assistive 
patient handling technology successfully reduces 
workers’ compensation costs for musculoskeletal dis-
orders. 
(6) A number of States have implemented safe 
patient handling, mobility and injury prevention 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:44 Dec 21, 2015
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4266.IH
H4266
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
standards. The success of these programs at the fa-
cility and State level demonstrates the technological 
and economical feasibility of such standards. 
(7) Establishing a safe patient handling, mobil-
ity, and injury prevention standard for direct-care 
registered nurses and other health care workers is a 
critical component reasonably necessary for pro-
tecting the health and safety of nurses and other 
health care workers, addressing the nursing short-
age, and increasing patient safety. 
(c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; findings; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Safe patient handling, mobility, and injury prevention standard. 
Sec. 3. Application of safe patient handling, mobility, and injury prevention 
standard to facilities receiving Medicare and Medicaid funds. 
Sec. 4. Nonpreemption. 
Sec. 5. Definitions. 
SEC. 2. SAFE PATIENT HANDLING, MOBILITY, AND INJURY 
PREVENTION STANDARD. 
(a) RULEMAKING.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, not later than 1 year after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall, pursuant 
to section 6 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 
of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655), promulgate an interim final 
standard on safe patient handling, mobility, and injury 
prevention (in this section such standard is referred to as 
the ‘‘safe patient handling, mobility, and injury prevention 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:44 Dec 21, 2015
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4266.IH
H4266
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
standard’’) to prevent musculoskeletal disorders for direct- 
care registered nurses and all other health care workers 
handling patients. The interim final standard shall remain 
in effect until it is replaced by a final safe patient han-
dling, mobility, and injury prevention standard. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The safe patient handling, mo-
bility, and injury prevention standard shall require the use 
of engineering and safety controls to perform handling of 
patients and to reduce the incidence of injuries from man-
ual handling of patients by direct-care registered nurses 
and all other health care workers, through the develop-
ment of a comprehensive program, to include the use of 
mechanical technology and devices to the greatest degree 
feasible. Where the use of mechanical technology and de-
vices is not feasible, the standards shall require the use 
of alternative controls and measures to minimize the risk 
of injury to nurses and health care workers resulting from 
the manual handling of patients. The standard shall apply 
to all health care employers, shall generally align with 
interprofessional national safe patient handling, mobility, 
and injury prevention standards, and shall include the fol-
lowing: 
(1) PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT.—A requirement 
that each health care employer shall develop and im-
plement a safe patient handling, mobility, and injury 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:44 Dec 21, 2015
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4266.IH
H4266
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS