TAKE ACTION NOW TO PREVENT WORKPLACE VIOLENCE!

Protecting our emergency department personnel and patients is a top priority for MACEP. That’s why MACEP is actively supporting legislation to reduce workplace violence by requiring the development of new statewide standards for evaluating and addressing known security risks in hospitals.  And great news! The Massachusetts House of Representatives unanimously approved the bill in late November. Now we need to urge the Senate to act quickly to pass the bill!

Importantly, H.4767 “An Act Requiring Health Care Employers to Develop and Implement Programs to Prevent Workplace Violence” increases penalties for assault and battery against healthcare providers, emergency medical technicians, and ambulance operators and attendants, elevating these offenses from misdemeanors to felonies and thereby enhancing the legislation's effectiveness. Additionally, the bill would require hospitals to:

• Implement employee training programs;
• Develop a written violence prevention plan in cooperation with hospital employees;
• Deploy an in-house crisis response team to assist employees who are victims of workplace violence;
• Adopt appropriate employment support for victims for follow-up services and legal proceedings related to incidents of workplace violence;
• Initiate regular reporting of all assaults and batteries to the Department of Public Health (DPH) and local district attorneys; and
• Facilitate robust information-sharing between the healthcare and public safety communities.

HOW CAN YOU HELP PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT COLLEAGUES? 

Please send a message to Michael Rodrigues, Chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, Karen Spilka, Senate President, and your local state senator. 

URGE THEM TO ACT QUICKLY ON H.4767!

Please personalize your email with your own stories and experiences that speak to the need for passage of this important legislation.

Thank you!