74th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2007 Regular Session
Enrolled
House Bill 2022
Ordered printed by the Speaker pursuant to House Rule 12.00A (5).
Presession filed (at the request of House Interim Task Force on
Nurses Workplace Violence)
CHAPTER ................
AN ACT
Relating to health care employers; and declaring an emergency.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. { + Sections 2 to 7 of this 2007 Act are added to
and made a part of ORS 654.001 to 654.295. + }
SECTION 2. { + As used in sections 2 to 7 of this 2007 Act:
(1) 'Assault' means intentionally, knowingly or recklessly
causing physical injury.
(2) 'Health care employer' means:
(a) An ambulatory surgical center as defined in ORS 442.015.
(b) A hospital as defined in ORS 442.015.
(3) 'Home health care services' means items or services
furnished to a patient by an employee of a health care employer
in a place of temporary or permanent residence used as the
patient's home. + }
SECTION 3. { + (1) A health care employer shall:
(a) Conduct periodic security and safety assessments to
identify existing or potential hazards for assaults committed
against employees;
(b) Develop and implement an assault prevention and protection
program for employees based on assessments conducted under
paragraph (a) of this subsection; and
(c) Provide assault prevention and protection training on a
regular and ongoing basis for employees.
(2) An assessment conducted under subsection (1)(a) of this
section shall include, but need not be limited to:
(a) A measure of the frequency of assaults committed against
employees that occur on the premises of a health care employer or
in the home of a patient receiving home health care services
during the preceding five years or for the years that records are
available if fewer than five years of records are available; and
(b) An identification of the causes and consequences of
assaults against employees.
(3) An assault prevention and protection program developed and
implemented by a health care employer under subsection (1)(b) of
this section shall be based on an assessment conducted under
subsection (1)(a) of this section and shall address security
considerations related to the following:
(a) Physical attributes of the health care setting;
(b) Staffing plans, including security staffing;
(c) Personnel policies;
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(d) First aid and emergency procedures;
(e) Procedures for reporting assaults; and
(f) Education and training for employees.
(4)(a) Assault prevention and protection training required
under subsection (1)(c) of this section shall address the
following topics:
(A) General safety and personal safety procedures;
(B) Escalation cycles for assaultive behaviors;
(C) Factors that predict assaultive behaviors;
(D) Techniques for obtaining medical history from a patient
with assaultive behavior;
(E) Verbal and physical techniques to de-escalate and minimize
assaultive behaviors;
(F) Strategies for avoiding physical harm and minimizing use of
restraints;
(G) Restraint techniques consistent with regulatory
requirements;
(H) Self-defense, including:
(i) The amount of physical force that is reasonably necessary
to protect the employee or a third person from assault; and
(ii) The use of least restrictive procedures necessary under
the circumstances, in accordance with an approved behavior
management plan, and any other methods of response approved by
the health care employer;
(I) Procedures for documenting and reporting incidents
involving assaultive behaviors;
(J) Programs for post-incident counseling and follow-up;
(K) Resources available to employees for coping with assaults;
and
(L) The health care employer's workplace assault prevention and
protection program.
(b) A health care employer shall provide assault prevention and
protection training to a new employee within 90 days of the
employee's initial hiring date.
(c) A health care employer may use classes, video recordings,
brochures, verbal or written training or other training that the
employer determines to be appropriate, based on an employee's job
duties, under the assault prevention and protection program
developed by the employer. + }
SECTION 4. { + (1) A health care employer shall maintain a
record of assaults committed against employees that occur on the
premises of the health care employer or in the home of a patient
receiving home health care services. The record shall include,
but need not be limited to, the following:
(a) The name and address of the premises on which each assault
occurred;
(b) The date, time and specific location where the assault
occurred;
(c) The name, job title and department or ward assignment of
the employee who was assaulted;
(d) A description of the person who committed the assault as a
patient, visitor, employee or other category;
(e) A description of the assaultive behavior as:
(A) An assault with mild soreness, surface abrasions, scratches
or small bruises;
(B) An assault with major soreness, cuts or large bruises;
(C) An assault with severe lacerations, a bone fracture or a
head injury; or
(D) An assault with loss of limb or death;
(f) An identification of the physical injury;
Enrolled House Bill 2022 (HB 2022-A) Page 2
(g) A description of any weapon used;
(h) The number of employees in the immediate area of the
assault when it occurred; and
(i) A description of actions taken by the employees and the
health care employer in response to the assault.
(2) A health care employer shall maintain the record of
assaults described in subsection (1) of this section for no fewer
than five years following a reported assault.
(3) The Director of the Department of Consumer and Business
Services shall adopt by rule a common recording form for the
purposes of this section. + }
SECTION 5. { + If a health care employer directs an employee
who has been assaulted by a patient on the premises of the health
care employer to provide further treatment to the patient, the
employee may request that a second employee accompany the
employee when treating the patient. If the health care employer
declines the employee's request, the health care employer may not
require the employee to treat the patient. + }
SECTION 6. { + (1) An employee who provides home health care
services may refuse to treat a patient unless accompanied by a
second employee if, based on the patient's past behavior or
physical or mental condition, the employee believes that the
patient may assault the employee.
(2) An employee who provides home health care services may
refuse to treat a patient unless the employee is equipped with a
communication device that allows the employee to transmit one-way
or two-way messages indicating that the employee is being
assaulted. + }
SECTION 7. { + (1) A health care employer may not impose
sanctions against an employee who used physical force in
self-defense against an assault if the health care employer finds
that the employee:
(a) Was acting in self-defense in response to the use or
imminent use of physical force;
(b) Used an amount of physical force that was reasonably
necessary to protect the employee or a third person from assault;
and
(c) Used the least restrictive procedures necessary under the
circumstances, in accordance with an approved behavior management
plan, or other methods of response approved by the health care
employer.
(2) As used in this section, 'self-defense' means the use of
physical force upon another person in self-defense or to defend a
third person. + }
SECTION 8. { + A health care employer that is required to
conduct a periodic security and safety assessment under section 3
of this 2007 Act shall conduct its first assessment no later than
April 1, 2008. + }
SECTION 9. { + Section 4 of this 2007 Act applies only to
assaults occurring on or after the operative date specified in
section 11 of this 2007 Act. + }
SECTION 10. { + (1) No later than January 31, 2009, each
health care employer shall provide to the Director of the
Department of Consumer and Business Services data from the record
of assaults compiled under section 4 of this 2007 Act for
assaults occurring in 2008.
(2) The director shall adopt rules for the reporting of data
under subsection (1) of this section. The rules:
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(a) May not require health care employers to report the names
of employees who have been assaulted or the names of patients who
have committed assaults; and
(b) Shall conform with state and federal laws relating to
confidentiality and the protection of health information.
(3) No later than April 30, 2009, the director shall analyze
the data received under subsection (1) of this section and report
the findings to the Seventy-fifth Legislative Assembly.
(4) Nothing in this section restricts the director's access to
or use of information or records otherwise required or permitted
under the Oregon Safe Employment Act. + }
SECTION 11. { + Except as provided in section 12 of this 2007
Act, sections 2 to 7 of this 2007 Act become operative on January
1, 2008. + }
SECTION 12. { + The Director of the Department of Consumer and
Business Services may take any action before the operative date
of sections 2 to 7 of this 2007 Act that is necessary to enable
the director to exercise, on and after the operative date of
sections 2 to 7 of this 2007 Act, all the duties, functions and
powers conferred on the director by this 2007 Act. + }
SECTION 13. { + This 2007 Act being necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an
emergency is declared to exist, and this 2007 Act takes effect
July 1, 2007. + }
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Passed by House February 20, 2007
...........................................................
Chief Clerk of House
...........................................................
Speaker of House
Passed by Senate May 24, 2007
...........................................................
President of Senate
Enrolled House Bill 2022 (HB 2022-A) Page 4
Received by Governor:
......M.,............., 2007
Approved:
......M.,............., 2007
...........................................................
Governor
Filed in Office of Secretary of State:
......M.,............., 2007
...........................................................
Secretary of State
Enrolled House Bill 2022 (HB 2022-A) Page 5