Bill
HB 3401
Missouri HB 3401 creates mandatory workplace violence prevention plans and committees in health care facilities, with reporting, training, post-incident support, and anti-retaliati
Purpose and intent
- Establishes a framework to prevent and address workplace violence against health care professionals and employees in health care facilities.
- Creates structured processes for prevention planning, incident reporting, post-incident support, and enforcement, aiming to improve safety for health care staff without imposing new capital requirements or duplicating existing programs.
Key provisions and changes
1) Definitions and scope
- Adds six new sections (191.1903, 191.1906, 191.1909, 191.1912, 191.1915, and 197.708) to chapters 191 and 197.
- Defines:
- “Facility” as any hospital (per existing law in §197.020).
- “Health care professional” as a licensed, accredited, or certified health service provider in the state (including emergency medical responders).
- “Committee” as the workplace violence prevention committee or equivalent responsible for developing a facility’s plan.
2) Workplace violence prevention committees and plans ( Sections 191.1906 and 191.1909)
- Facilities must establish a workplace violence prevention committee or designate an existing committee to develop a written workplace violence prevention plan.
- Required committee membership (minimum):
- At least one registered nurse providing direct patient care.
- At least one physician licensed in Missouri providing direct patient care.
- At least one facility employee who provides security services, if any and practicable.
- Multi-facility systems: A health care system with multiple facilities can use a single committee if it develops a plan applicable to each facility and keeps violence-prevention data distinctly identifiable per facility.
- Plan requirements (191.1909):
- Based on the facility’s practice setting.
- Include a process for confidential reporting of violence to the committee.
- Protect reporters from retaliation.
- Define workplace violence to include:
- Acts/threats of physical force causing or likely to cause physical injury or psychological trauma.
- Incidents involving firearms or other dangerous weapons, regardless of injury.
- Require at least annual violence prevention training for direct-care staff.
- Establish a system for responding to and investigating violent or potentially violent incidents.
- Address physical safety and security measures.
- Solicit input from health care professionals and employees when developing/implementing the plan.
- Allow reporting via existing facility incident reporting systems.
- Allow adjustment of patient care assignments to minimize exposure to patients who have violently abused/threatened staff, when practicable.
- Plan reviews: The committee must annually review/evaluate the plan and report results to the facility’s governing body.
- Access to plan: Facilities must provide an electronic or printed copy of the plan to health care professionals and employees upon request (with possible redactions for security concerns).
3) Post-incident requirements and protections ( Section 191.1912)
- After a workplace violence incident, facilities must offer immediate post-incident services, including necessary acute medical treatment for involved staff.
- Encourages, and may require, coordination with law enforcement; facilities may not discourage reporting to law enforcement.
- Protections against retaliation: No discipline, discrimination, or retaliation against staff who in good faith report an incident or advise others of their right to report.
4) Enforcement and liability ( Section 191.1915)
- Licensing agencies may take disciplinary action against violators as if violating an applicable licensing law.
- Immunity: Facilities and staff participating in good faith in complying with these provisions are immune from civil or criminal liability related to such compliance.
5) Public awareness requirement ( Section 197.708)
- Hospitals must display a prominent sign in waiting areas of the emergency department and labor/delivery department with a warning message about the crime and prosecution for assaulting health care professionals.
6) Administrative and fiscal notes
- No net state General Revenue impact anticipated.
- Local government impact: Unknown for health care facilities to implement signage; statewide cost not estimated, but anticipated to be less than $250,000 in aggregate (based on comparable prior proposals and early estimates).
- No new FTEs anticipated; cost absorbable within current agency resources (DHSS, DRL/HSL) per fiscal notes.
- Minor modifications to hospital inspection protocols may be needed to ensure compliance; workload expected to be manageable within existing processes.
Impact and who is affected
- Affects health care facilities (primarily hospitals) and their employees, especially health care professionals and security staff.
- Targeted impact includes the establishment of formal prevention committees, mandated planning and training, structured incident reporting, post-incident support, and anti-retaliation protections.
- Enforcement would involve licensing agencies, with potential disciplinary actions for violations.
- Public visibility requirement places signage in key patient-care areas.
Procedural and timeline aspects
- Bill establishes new duties, with annual plan review and annual staff training requirements.
- If enacted, facilities must implement the committee structure and plan, and display signage in specified departments.
- The fiscal notes indicate no immediate General Revenue cost; any local or facility-specific costs (e.g., signage) are anticipated to be unknown but not expected to exceed $250,000 statewide.
Overall, HB 3401 creates a comprehensive framework to formalize workplace violence prevention in Missouri health care settings, balancing staff safety with existing regulatory and reporting structures.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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