§ 2832 — Violence prevention program

* § 2832. Violence prevention program. 1. For the purposes of this\nsection, the term "facility" shall mean a general hospital or a nursing\nhome as defined in section twenty-eight hundred one of this article.\n 2. Within twelve months of the effective date of this section, every\nfacility shall establish a workplace violence prevention program. Such\nprogram in a general hospital shall be consistent with regulatory\nrequirements including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services\nHospital Conditions of Participation regarding caring for patients in a\nsafe setting 42 CFR § 482.13(c)(2), and emergency preparedness 42 CFR §\n482.15(a) and (d)(1), and the workplace violence standards of any\naccrediting organization deemed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid\nServices under which such hospital maintains accreditation provided\nhowever, such standards are comparable to those established by The Joint\nCommission. The purpose of such a program shall be to protect health\ncare workers, patients, facility residents, and visitors. The program\nshall, at a minimum, include the requirements set forth in this section.\n 3. Beginning January first, two thousand twenty-seven, all general\nhospitals shall conduct, not less than annually, a workplace safety and\nsecurity assessment and develop a safety and security plan that\naddresses identified workplace violence threats or hazards. As part of\nthe plan, a general hospital shall adopt security measures and policies,\nincluding personnel training policies designed to prevent or minimize\nidentified workplace violence threats or hazards and protect employees,\npatients, and visitors from aggressive or violent behavior, including\nbut not limited to, credible threats, assaults, injuries, and deaths. In\nconducting the assessment and developing the plan, general hospitals\nshall ensure the active involvement of employees, including the\nrecognized collective bargaining agent or agents, if any, and may do so\nthrough established general hospital safety and security committees and\nexisting labor management committees. Nothing in this section shall\ndiminish, supplant or restrict the rights, privileges and remedies of\nany employee or collective bargaining representative under applicable\nlaw, rule or regulation or under the terms of a collective bargaining\nagreement.\n 4. The safety and security assessment shall be tailored to the size,\ncomplexity, and local geographical factors affecting the general\nhospital and shall identify and consider relevant threats and hazards,\nincluding but not limited to workplace violence incident reports and\nincident logs, concerns or complaints raised by employees, patients,\nvisitors and recognized collective bargaining representatives, safety\nand security considerations relating to the general hospital's layout\nand access points, visitor management, and protective factors such as\naccess control, engineering controls to limit violence or protect\nemployees, alarms and communication systems, and other relevant factors,\nas appropriate to the general hospital. Additionally, the assessment\nshall consider the adequacy of employee training policies and security\nprocedures, including the handling of disruptive or violent patients and\nother persons. Health care workers regularly assigned to provide\nsecurity in general hospital settings shall be trained regarding the\nrole of security in overall hospital operations.\n 5. Based on the findings and ongoing review of the workplace violence\nassessment, general hospitals shall implement a workplace violence\nsafety and security plan, which shall be updated as necessary to address\nnewly identified material risks and changes in conditions. The safety\nand security plan shall specify methods to reduce identified risks,\nwhich may include employee training, increased staffing and security,\nengineering controls such as barriers, lighting, alarms and\ncommunication systems, safety equipment, general hospital improvements\nor modifications, and other appropriate measures relevant to the general\nhospital. Each general hospital shall provide a written detailed summary\nof the safety and security plan to its employees and collective\nbargaining representatives, if applicable. Each general hospital shall\nalso provide information to its employees and collective bargaining\nrepresentatives, if applicable, about how to report incidents of\nworkplace violence. Each general hospital shall share summaries of the\nincident log, appropriately redacted to protect the privacy of persons\ninvolved in an incident, trends and analysis of relevant data with the\ngeneral hospital security or safety committee responsible for workplace\nviolence and ensure that the data is part of the workplace violence\nassessment process.\n 6. Notwithstanding any provision of this section, compliance by a\nnursing home with the federal regulations 42 CFR 483.71(a)(3) and\n(b)(1), and 42 CFR 483.73(a)(1), governing nursing homes shall satisfy\nthe requirements of this section for such facilities, provided that such\nassessments and plans address workplace violence threats and hazards.\n * NB Effective September 18, 2026\n