Ohio Passes Workplace Safety Bill For Nurses & Healthcare Workers

Ohio nurses have achieved a partial victory in their push for improved workplace safety measures. The recent legislative session saw the passage of House Bill 452, a piece of legislation aimed at addressing the growing concerns surrounding workplace violence in hospitals. While nurses had two major requests for lawmakers, they managed to secure one of them through this bill, which now awaits Governor Mike DeWine's signature to become law. The other bill, focused on safe staffing ratios, was not passed. 

Addressing the Urgent Need for Healthcare Worker Safety

Workplace violence has been a pressing issue in healthcare settings, with nurses and other medical professionals often facing aggressive behavior from patients and visitors. The passage of House Bill 452 represents a crucial step towards creating a safer work environment for these essential workers. The bill focuses on enhancing security practices within hospitals and implementing measures to prevent and report incidents of violence.

Key points of HB 452:

• Interdisciplinary Team for Security Plan: Requires hospitals to form a team, including direct care employees, to create a workplace violence prevention security plan.
• Incident Reporting System: Mandates hospitals to establish a reporting system for workplace violence, including guidelines for reporting to employers, security agencies, and law enforcement, with protections against discrimination or retaliation.
• Security Personnel Training: Grants hospital security personnel access to online security training available to Ohio peace officers.
• Workplace Violence Education Survey: Directs the Department of Higher Education to survey colleges and universities offering healthcare-related programs to assess current training on workplace violence prevention. Results will be reported to the General Assembly.

Continuing Advocacy for Nurse Safety

While the passage of House Bill 452 represents a substantial step forward, it's worth noting that this was only one of the two major requests made by Ohio nurses during the legislative session. The nursing community and its advocates will likely continue to push for additional measures to further enhance workplace safety and address other pressing issues affecting the profession.