BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 718
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 718 (Yee)
As Amended September 3, 2013
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :21-13
HEALTH 13-6 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Pan, Ammiano, Atkins, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, |
| |Rendon, Bonta, Chesbro, | |Bradford, |
| |Gomez, | |Ian Calderon, Campos, |
| |Roger Hernández, | |Eggman, Gomez, Hall, |
| |Lowenthal, Mitchell, | |Holden, Pan, Quirk, Weber |
| |Nazarian, V. Manuel | | |
| |Pérez, Wieckowski | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Logue, Maienschein, |Nays:|Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Mansoor, Nestande, | |Donnelly, Linder, Wagner |
| |Wagner, Wilk | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Prohibits a hospital from retaliating against an
employee who seeks assistance from local emergency services or
law enforcement when a violent incident occurs. Requires
hospitals to document and maintain for five years reports on any
violent incidents and to report any violent incidents to the
Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA).
1)Prohibits a hospital from 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.
2)Requires a hospital to document and keep for five years a
written record of any violent incident against a hospital
employee immediately after the incident is reported,
regardless of whether the employee sustains an injury.
3)Requires a hospital to report to Cal/OSHA within 72 hours the
occurrence of a violent incident or within 24 hours if the
incident results in physical injury, involves the use of a
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firearm or other dangerous weapon, or presents an urgent
threat to the safety of hospital personnel.
4)Permits Cal/OSHA to assess a civil penalty against a hospital
that fails to report a violent incident of up to $100 per day
for each day that the incident is not reported.
5)Permits Cal/OSHA, at its discretion, to conduct an inspection
for any violent incident that is reported pursuant to this
bill.
6)Requires Cal/OSHA, by January 1, 2015, and annually
thereafter, to post a report on its Internet Web site
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,
the outcome of any related inspection or investigation,
citations levied against a hospital based on a violent
incident, and recommendations on how to prevent violent
incidents at hospitals.
7)Requires Cal/OSHA to adopt regulations by January 1, 2015, to
implement the provisions of this bill.
8)Defines "violent incident" for purposes of this section, to
include, but not be limited to, 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,
including an incident involving the use of a firearm or other
dangerous weapon, regardless of whether the employee sustains
an injury.
9)Specifically exempts hospitals operated by the Department of
State Hospitals, Department of Developmental Services, or the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from these
provisions.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)One-time costs to Cal/OSHA of $120,000 over two years to
develop regulations and $50,000 to establish a reporting
system (Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Fund).
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2)Ongoing costs to Cal/OSHA of at least $100,000 (OSH Fund)
annually to collect and evaluate newly reportable criminal
assaults, to conduct additional survey reviews to ensure
compliance with safety and training standards, and to compile
incidents and report to the Legislature.
3)Unknown, likely minor, new state General Fund revenue from
civil penalties against hospitals for failure to report
incidents in a timely manner.
COMMENTS : According to the author, violence in health care
settings is a continuing national problem, and the risk of
workplace violence is a serious occupational hazard for
registered nurses (RNs) and other health care workers.
Countless acts of assault, battery, and aggression that
routinely take place in health care settings, demonstrate a
frightening trend of increasing violence faced by health care
workers in California and throughout the country. At least 16
states have enacted laws aiming to address workplace violence
for health care workers. The requirements among these laws vary
widely, ranging from requiring health facilities to have safety
and security plans, establishing fair leave policies to employee
victims, and increasing criminal penalties for assaults against
health care workers. The author states that this bill, in
response to these issues, is calling for reforms to crack down
on a disturbing trend of violence in facilities where medical
care is provided.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a worker
in health care and social assistance is nearly five times more
likely to be the victim of a nonfatal assault or violent act by
another person than the average worker in all other major
industries combined. The BLS reports that in 2011, the
incidence rate for violence and other injuries of persons in the
private health and social assistance sector was more than triple
the overall rate for all of the private industry.
A January 2007 report sponsored by the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health, "Evaluation of Safety and
Security Programs to Reduce Violence in Health Care Settings,"
found that OSHA logs and employers' reports do not provide
detailed information about the circumstances of the violent
event, which could limit prevention efforts. For example, the
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specific location of the event was unknown in over 70% of all
events and the activity at the time of the event was unspecific
in over 40% of all events.
A 2013 Journal of Safety Research article, "Perpetrator, worker
and workplace characteristics associated with patient and
visitor perpetrated violence on hospital workers: A review of
the literature and existing occupational injury data," found
that non-fatal type II violence experienced by hospital workers
(patient/visitor-on-worker violence) is not well described.
Approximately 484 physical assaults were identified in the data,
however, only few details about events were captured, while
non-physical events were not captured. The researchers
concluded that the literature lacked rigorous methods for
examining incidence and circumstances surrounding events or
rates of events over time. The reports required by this bill
could help provide more data on the incidence of violence in
California hospitals.
This bill is sponsored by the California Nurses Association
(CNA). CNA states that the risk of workplace violence is a
serious occupational hazard for RNs and other health care
workers. In response, CNA is sponsoring this bill to establish
new standards for hospitals to protect RNs and other health care
workers from violence in their workplace.
The Consumer Attorneys of California also supports the bill
because it will aid law enforcement agents in their
investigation and apprehension of dangerous individuals by
requiring hospitals to report any incident that 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, to Cal/OSHA within 24, instead
of 72 hours.
The California Hospital Association opposes this bill, stating
that it imposes redundant reporting requirements and redundant
fine authority.
The California Association of Joint Powers Authorities (CAJPA)
also opposes the bill because it would require duplicative
reporting mandates on public and private hospitals. CAJPA is
also concerned that failure to meet the bill's extended record
keeping mandates, and the new time-sensitive reporting
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requirements beyond those already required for occupational
safety and workers' compensation purposes will set public
hospitals up for this bill's new Labor Code fines, and that
these new fines and penalties will be levied on top of existing
state Health and Safety Code fines and penalties.
Analysis Prepared by : Lara Flynn / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097
FN: 0002191