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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Fifth Legislature, Second Regular Session
health care workers; assault; prevention.
Purpose
Specifies that a person commits aggravated assault if the person knows that the victim is a health care worker. Requires, by July 1, 2023, health care employers to develop, implement and maintain a written workplace violence prevention plan.
Background
A person commits an aggravated assault if the person commits the assault under outlined circumstances, including if the person: 1) causes serious physical injury to another; 2) uses a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument; 3) commits the assault by any means of force that causes temporary but substantial disfigurement, temporary but substantial loss or impairment of any body organ or part or a fracture of any body part; and 4) commits the assault knowing or having reason to know that the victim is a certified or licensed health care practitioner or a person summoned and directed by the licensed health care practitioner while engaged in the person's professional duties. A certified or licensed health care practitioner includes a licensed or certified physician, nurse, osteopathic physician or surgeon or a physician's assistant. The assault on a certified or licensed health care practitioner is not an aggravated assault if the person who commits the assault is seriously mentally ill or is afflicted with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia. A person commits aggravated assault if the person commits assault by: 1) intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causing any physical injury to another person; 2) intentionally placing another person in reasonable apprehension of imminent physical injury; or 3) knowingly touching another person with the intent to injure the person (A.R.S. § 13-1204).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
Aggravated Assault
1. Specifies that a person commits aggravated assault if the person commits the assault knowing or having reason to know that the victim is a health care worker while engaged in the health care worker's work duties.
2. Excludes crimes by individuals who are unable to form a culpable mental state due to a mental disability from the aggravated assault classification.
Health Care Employer Workplace Violence Prevention Plan
3. Requires, by July 1, 2023, health care employers to develop, implement and maintain a written workplace violence prevention plan that includes:
a) components specifically tailored to the conditions and hazards of the health care employer's sites and patient-specific risk factors;
b) the identity of the individual responsible for implementing and overseeing the plan;
c) the requirements of conspicuous posting of signs in public areas throughout the health care employer's sites, including all emergency facilities, that are at least 12 inches by 12 inches in size and that provide notice that assault on a health care worker may be prosecuted as a felony;
d) the reporting procedures, incident response procedures and post incident investigation procedures; and
e) the requiem of health care employers to provide information to health care workers about a worker's ability to report any assault to law enforcement and, on request, to assist the worker in reporting the assault.
4. Requires the reporting, incident response procedures and post incident investigation procedures to include procedures for:
a) health care workers to report workplace violence risks, hazards and incidents;
b) health care employers to respond to reports of workplace violence; and
c) health care employers to perform a post incident investigation and debriefing of all reported incidents of workplace violence with the participation of health care workers.
5. Requires the health care employer to:
a) make its workplace violence prevention plan available at all times to all health care workers and contractors who provide patient care; and
b) provide training and education to its health care workers who may be exposed to workplace violence hazards and risks.
6. Requires the health care employer, as soon as practicable after a workplace violence incident is reported, to:
a) investigate the incident;
b) review the circumstances of the incident;
c) solicit input from involved health care workers and supervisors about the cause of the incident and whether further corrective measures could have prevented the incident; and
d) document the findings, recommendations and corrective measures taken, if applicable, for each investigation conducted.
7. Requires each health care employer to maintain:
a) records that relate to each of the employer's workplace violence prevention plans, including identifying, evaluating and correcting hazards, risks and training procedures; and
b) an incident log for recording all reported workplace violence incidents and records of all incident investigations.
8. Requires the incident log each health care employer must maintain to include:
a) the date, time and location of the incident;
b) the name of every person who is involved in the incident;
c) a description of the incident; and
d) the nature and extent of injuries to health care workers.
9. Requires the health care employer to annually evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the workplace violence prevention plan, including a review of the violent incident log and compliance with any training.
10. Requires the annual evaluation be documented.
Miscellaneous
11. Requires the health care employer to adopt a policy that prohibits any person from discriminating or retaliating against any health care worker for:
a) reporting to or seeking assistance or intervention from the employer, law enforcement, local emergency services or a government agency;
b) participating in an incident investigation; or
c) reasonably acting in self-defense or defense of others in response to an imminent threat of physical harm.
12. Prohibits a health care employer from discriminating or retaliating against a health care worker for:
a) reporting to or seeking assistance or intervention from the employer, law enforcement, local emergency services or a government agency;
b) exercising any other outlined rights; or
c) reasonably acting in self-defense or defense of others in response to an imminent threat of physical harm.
13. States that the legal obligations of a health care employer and health care worker regarding the protection of patients' rights are not affected.
14. Excludes the Arizona State Hospital or any other licensed facility that is under the jurisdiction of the superintendent of the Arizona State Hospital from the health care employers workplace violence prevention plan requirements.
15. Defines health care worker as:
a) a person who is employed by or contracted to work at a licensed health care institution; and
b) a person who is employed or contracted to provide health care or related services in a field work setting, including any emergency services and transport, including the services provided by firefighters and emergency responders and home health care, home-based hospice and home-based social work, unless the worker is employed or contracted by an individual who privately employs the worker in the individual's residence to perform covered services for the individual or a family member of the individual.
16. Defines health care employer as a licensed health care institution that is a hospital, freestanding emergency services facility or urgent care facility and that has more than 50 employees.
17. Defines mental disability as a neurological condition, brain injury or involuntary impairment as a result of a medication that is administered by a health care provider or a medical procedure that is performed at a health care treatment site.
18. Makes technical and conforming changes.
19. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Research
February 14, 2022
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