A Plan to Prevent Violence in Healthcare Facilities

Yesterday we discussed the importance of environment, health, and safety (EHS) managers being aware of what is going on in state regulatory developments—a case in point being California’s new standard for preventing violence to healthcare workers. We looked at elements of the new standard that have to be in place this April 1, 2017. Today we will review three requirements that are due to kick in next year. Key is the requirement to develop a workplace violence prevention plan.

Who Must Develop a Plan?

EHS managers at the following facilities in California will be involved in the development of a workplace violence prevention plan (Plan):

• Health facilities, e.g., hospital, out-patient clinic, off-site operations within the license of a health facility;
• Home health care and home-based hospices;
• Emergency medical services and medical transport, including these services when provided by firefighters and other emergency responders;
• Drug treatment programs; and
• Outpatient medical services for prisoners.

The Plan must be in place and implemented by April 1, 2018.

Key Components of Your Plan

These facilities must develop a workplace violence prevention plan as part of California’s injury and illness prevention program (IIPP). It must be in effect at all times in every unit, service, and operation of the facility. The Plan must be in writing and specific to the hazards and corrective measures for the specific unit, service, or operation. The written Plan may be incorporated into the written IIPP or maintained as a separate document.

There are general requirements for the Plan and requirements specific to the type of healthcare service.

General requirements include:

• Active involvement of employees in the development of the Plan;
• Methods to ensure implementation and training;
• Procedures for obtaining emergency help during all shifts;
• Procedures for accepting and responding to workplace violence reports and prohibiting retaliation;
• Procedures for assuring compliance;
• Procedures for communication and documentation, including incident reporting;
• Development of training, including employee participation;
• Identification and evaluation of risk factors, including community-based risk factors and a review of all workplace violence incidents that occurred within the previous year, whether or not an injury occurred;
• Procedures to identify and evaluate patient-specific risk factors and assess visitors or other persons who are not employees;
• Procedures to correct workplace violence hazards in a timely manner, including the use of engineering and work practice controls; and
• Procedures for postincident response and investigation.

Two Other Requirements

Two other requirements of the prevention of violence in health care that must be implemented by April 1, 2018, are:

1. A system to review the effectiveness of the Plan at least annually and actions to correct problems identified in the review.
2. The development of a training program that addresses the workplace violence risks that the employees are reasonably anticipated to encounter in their jobs. There must be initial training, annual refresher training, and additional training when new equipment or work practices are introduced or when a new workplace violence hazard is identified.

Tune in to tomorrow’s Advisor for tips for assessing the risk of workplace violence at your facility.