Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. ALLEN. Madam Chair, those who work in hospitals and in social services are remarkable. They provide Americans with compassion and care in some of life's most difficult situations. But every day these workers face real risk of workplace violence.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports healthcare and social service workplaces have higher rates of workplace violence. No American should feel threatened while on the job. That is why the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, has recently taken steps to work with stakeholders and industry partners to analyze the issue on how to best protect these workers.
H.R. 1309 threatens this collaborative work and denies OSHA the ability to respond to feedback from the public and stakeholders.
As a small business owner, I know that top-down mandates simply do not work. The bottom-up approach is the tried-and-true method. Gather input from all impacted before creating a new policy.
This bill also lacks the research needed to identify and prevent workplace violence in these settings. In 2016, the Government Accountability Office said there haven't been enough studies done on the effectiveness of workplace violence prevention programs and that OSHA needed to review it further. Why do some of my colleagues think they know better than the industry, worker representatives, the scientific community, and the public?
Let's also not forget that rushed mandates like this one come at a cost. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the cost to private entities will be at least $1.8 billion in the first 2 years that the rushed OSHA rule is in effect and $750 million annually after that. It is also estimated to cost public facilities at least $100 million in the first 2 years and $55 million annually after that.
When I am back home in my district and talk to healthcare providers, the last thing they want is another costly government mandate from Washington. So let's not put the cart before the horse here.
Workplace violence is a serious issue, and it needs a serious solution. We should not pass this bill until we have a thoroughly vetted and researched fix. So let OSHA do their job to develop an effective solution by working with the very people that we are trying to help.
I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill.
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