Kaine Cosponsors Bill to Protect Health Care Professionals from Workplace Violence

Press Release

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee, cosponsored legislation led by Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) that would help protect health care and social services employees from workplace violence following increased violent incidents against them.

"Our nation's health care and social service workers make tremendous sacrifices, and we should do everything we can to ensure they have a safe working environment to carry out their critical work caring for our loved ones," said Senator Kaine. "This legislation will help ensure our healers are better protected from senseless violence against them."

Workers in the health care and social service industries experience the highest rates of injuries caused by workplace violence. A 2016 GAO study reported that rates of violence against health care workers are up to twelve times higher than rates for the overall workforce, and 70% of nonfatal workplace assaults in 2016 occurred in the health care and social assistance sectors.

The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act would direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue a standard requiring health care and social service employers to write and implement a workplace violence prevention plan to prevent and protect their employees from violent incidents. It would ensure that health care and social service workplaces adopt proven prevention techniques and are prepared to respond in the tragic event of a violent incident.

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