2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 26 - Health and Vital Statistics Section 26:2H-5.20 - Establishment of violence prevention program in covered health care facility.
Universal Citation: NJ Rev Stat § 26:2H-5.20 (2023)
By Shawn Lebrock Published Oct. 15, 2024, 2:30p.m. ET
In 2023, New Jersey revised its statutes to require covered health care facilities to establish comprehensive violence prevention programs aimed at protecting health care workers. The new regulations, outlined in Title 26 - Health and Vital Statistics, Section 26:2H-5.20, mandate a series of measures to prevent and address workplace violence within these facilities.
Key Components of the Regulations:
Program Establishment: Covered health care facilities are required to establish a violence prevention program within six months of the effective date of the regulations.
Violence Prevention Committee: The program must be overseen by a committee that includes a representative from management and at least 50% of its members being health care workers providing direct patient care.
Violence Prevention Plan: The committee is responsible for developing and maintaining a detailed written plan that identifies workplace risks and outlines specific methods to address them. The plan should include an annual comprehensive violence risk assessment, violence prevention policies, and strategies to reduce identified risks through training, job design changes, staffing adjustments, security measures, equipment modifications, and facility improvements.
Plan Availability: A copy of the violence prevention plan must be made available upon request to the Commissioners of Health and Senior Services, Children and Families, and Human Services for on-site inspection. Additionally, health care workers and collective bargaining agents representing health care workers at the facility have the right to request a copy of the plan, with certain exceptions for sensitive security information.
Annual Training: The covered health care facility is required to conduct annual violence prevention training for all personnel. This training should cover relevant policies, de-escalation techniques, appropriate responses to workplace violence, restraining techniques, reporting procedures, safety device locations and operation, and resources for coping with violence.
Personnel Preparedness: The facility must have adequately trained personnel who can identify aggressive and violent predicting factors and respond appropriately to and manage violent disturbances.
Incident Reporting: All violent acts against employees while at work must be recorded and maintained for at least five years. These records should include details such as the date, time, location, victim identity (with certain privacy protections), perpetrator, nature of the act, injuries, witness information, and actions taken by the facility.
Post-Incident Response: The covered health care facility is required to establish a post-incident response system that provides support to employee-victims and their co-workers. This system should include an in-house crisis response team, individual and group crisis counseling, and access to professional referrals.
Impact and Significance:
The 2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes address a critical issue in health care settings, where workplace violence poses a significant threat to the safety and well-being of health care workers. By mandating comprehensive violence prevention programs, the regulations aim to create safer environments for employees and improve the overall quality of patient care.
These regulations align with broader efforts to address workplace violence in various industries and emphasize the importance of proactive measures to prevent and mitigate such incidents.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 26 - Health and Vital Statistics Section 26:2H-5.20 - Key language covering violence prevention programs in health care facilities.
26:2H-5.20 Establishment of violence prevention program in covered health care facility.
4. Within 6 months of the effective date of this act, a covered health care facility shall establish a violence prevention program for the purpose of protecting health care workers. The program shall, at a minimum, include the requirements set forth in this section.
a. (1) The covered health care facility shall establish a violence prevention committee, which shall include a representative of management, or his designee, who shall be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the program. At least 50% of the members of the committee shall be health care workers who provide direct patient care or otherwise have contact with patients. In a facility or health care system where health care workers are represented by one or more collective bargaining agents, the management of the facility or system shall consult with the applicable collective bargaining agents regarding the selection of the health care worker committee members.
The remaining committee members shall have experience, expertise, or responsibility relevant to violence prevention.
(2) In the case of a health care system that owns or operates more than one covered health care facility or Department of Human Services facilities, the violence prevention program and the committee may be operated at the system or department level, provided that: (a) committee membership includes at least one health care worker from each facility who provides direct care to patients, (b) the committee develops a violence prevention plan for each facility, and (c) data related to violence prevention remain distinctly identifiable for each facility.
b. Within 18 months of the effective date of this act, the committee shall develop and maintain a detailed, written violence prevention plan that identifies workplace risks, and provides specific methods to address them. The plan shall, at a minimum:
(1) provide an annual comprehensive violence risk-assessment for the covered health care facility that considers, to the extent applicable:
(a) the facility's layout, access restrictions, crime rate in surrounding areas, lighting, and communication and alarm devices;
(b) impact of staffing, including security personnel;
(c) the presence of individuals who may pose a risk of violence; and
(d) a review of any records relating to violent incidents at the facility, including incidents required to be reported pursuant to subsection f. of this section, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses (OSHA Form 300), and workers' compensation records;
(2) identify violence prevention policies; and
(3) specify methods to reduce identified risks, including training, and changes to job design, staffing, security, equipment and facility modifications.
c. The covered health care facility shall make a copy of the plan available, upon request, to the Commissioners of Health and Senior Services, Children and Families, and Human Services for on-site inspection, and upon request, to each health care worker and collective bargaining agent that represents health care workers at the facility, except that, in the event the committee determines that the plan contains information that would pose a threat to security if made public, any such information shall be excluded before providing copies to workers or collective bargaining agents.
d. The covered health care facility shall annually conduct violence prevention training. The training shall include a review of: the facility's relevant policies; techniques to de-escalate and minimize violent behavior; appropriate responses to workplace violence, including use of restraining techniques, reporting requirements and procedures; location and operation of safety devices; and resources for coping with violence.
e. The covered health care facility shall have personnel sufficiently trained to identify aggressive and violent predicting factors and the ability to appropriately respond to and manage violent disturbances.
f. The covered health care facility shall keep a record of all violent acts against employees while at work. The records shall be maintained for at least five years following the reported act, during which time employees, their authorized representatives, and the Department of Health and Senior Services shall have access to the record. The record shall include:
(1) the date, time and location of the incident;
(2) the identity and job title of the victim, except that the victim's identity shall not be included if it would not be entered on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses (OSHA Form 300) because it is a privacy concern case under OSHA;
(3) whether the act was committed by a patient, visitor, or employee;
(4) the nature of the violent act, including whether a weapon was used;
(5) a description of physical injuries, if any;
(6) the number of employees in the vicinity when the incident occurred and their actions in response to the incident, if any; and
(7) the actions taken by the facility in response to the incident.
The records established pursuant to this subsection shall not be considered public or government records under P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.) or P.L.2001, c.404 (C.47:1A-5 et al.).
g. The covered health care facility shall establish a post-incident response system that provides, at a minimum, an in-house crisis response team for employee-victims and their co-workers, and individual and group crisis counseling, which may include support groups, family crisis intervention, and professional referrals.
Violence Prevention and Self Defense Resources
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