Workplace violence prevention - Rhode Island

Rhode Island has a Hospital Workplace Violence Protection Act. “Hospital” is defined as any institutional health service provider, facility, or institution, place, building, agency, or portion thereof, whether a partnership or corporation, public or private, for profit or not, engaged in providing health care services.

Hospitals licensed in the state must:

• Create a workplace safety committee to conduct security and safety assessments to identify the potential for assaults against employees. The assessment should include analysis of the frequency of assaults committed in the workplace, and identification of causes and consequences of these assaults.
• Develop an assault prevention and protection program, based on the findings of the safety committee. The program should address security concerns related to:
  • Physical attributes of the hospital setting;
  • Staffing plans, including security staff;
  • Personnel policies;
  • First aid and emergency procedures;
  • Procedures for reporting assaults, and
  • Education and training for employees.
• Provide assault prevention and protection training on a regular basis. The training must include information on the following:
  • General safety and personal safety procedures;
  • Escalation cycles for assaultive behaviors;
  • Factors that predict assaultive behaviors;
  • Techniques for obtaining medical history from a patient with assaultive behavior;
  • Verbal and physical techniques to de-escalate and minimize assaultive behaviors;
  • Strategies for avoiding physical harm and minimizing use of restraints;
  • Restraint techniques consistent with regulatory requirements;
  • Self-defense techniques;
  • Procedures for documenting and reporting incidents that involve assaultive behaviors;
  • Programs for post-incident counseling for employees affected by the assaultive behavior and follow-ups as needed;
  • Resources available to employees coping with assaults; and
  • The hospital’s workplace assault prevention and protection program.

The hospital must establish a process to review the assault prevention and protection program at least once every two years, in coordination with the workplace safety committee.

The law stipulates that any hospital employee may notify the employer of any violation of law, regulation, or standard pertaining to safety and health. When a complaint is received, the facility director shall notify the hospital and investigate the complaint. If the director determines that no action should be taken against the employer, the director shall provide a statement of reasons for the decision to the complainant, upon written request. Employees may request confidentiality in reporting.

The law also prohibits an employer from retaliating or discriminating against any employee who makes a safety complaint.

Related information

• Workplace violence prevention - ezExplanation
• Active shooter - ezExplanation
• Workplace violence in health care - ezExplanation
• Workplace violence in retail - ezExplanation

Citations

• R.I. Gen. Laws 23-17.28-1 through 23-17.28-6
• 29 USC 654 — Duties of employers and employees (General Duty Clause)