Effective April 1, 2018, California became the first state to require all acute-care hospitals and skilled-nursing facilities to develop and implement comprehensive workplace violence prevention plans, according to an article on the National Law Review website.
The statute is intended to protect hospital employees from workplace violence caused by patients and/or family members.
Under the new law, affected employers in the healthcare industry must prepare a workplace violence prevention plan that includes annual personnel education and training regarding workplace violence and a system for responding to and investigating violent or potentially violent incidents.