State of Arizona Senate Bill 1311: Workplace Violence Prevention Policy for Health Care

Arizona S.B. 1311
Signed into Law 4/25/2022
Effective: July 1, 2023

Applies to all “Health Care Employers” (HCEs)- every licensed healthcare institution that is licensed as a hospital, freestanding emergency services facility or urgent care facility and that has more than 50 employees.

• Does not apply to AZ State Hospital or any other license facility under the Jurisdiction of the Superintendent of the AZ State Hospital

By July 1, 2023, each Health Care Employer must develop, implement and maintain a written workplace violence prevention plan that includes the following:

CPI Alignment
As part of a comprehensive violence prevention initiative, Crisis Prevention Institute® (CPI) recommends that organizations adopt policies and procedures that reflect the philosophy and strategies taught in the CPI training program. CPI offers a variety of resources, tools, and services that support organizations seeking to update their policies and procedures.

• Components specifically tailored to conditions & hazards of employer’s sites and patient-specific risk factors

CPI Alignment
CPI’s train-the-trainer model ensures that the training and the related materials are easily customizable to meet the needs of the staff engaged in the training and provides practice, roleplaying real-life scenarios, and problem-solving activities to ensure that staff remain engaged in learning.

In addition to standard offerings, CPI offers specialty topic trainings.

• Individual responsible for implementing & overseeing plan

• Requires conspicuous posting of signs that provide notice that assault on a health care worker may be prosecuted as a felony

• Reporting, incident, response & post incident investigation procedures

CPI Alignment
CPI recommends that each incident of violence be documented as part of the post-incident process. Staff should evaluate each incident through the lens of the CPI training program to look for opportunities to adjust their intervention strategies at earlier levels of the crisis.

CPI training emphasizes the importance of post-incident assessments after a restraint was used.

• Requires HCEs to provide info to workers about their ability to report assaults & incidents & to assist reporting upon request

After a violence incident report is reported, HCE shall investigate circumstances, solicit input from involved workers & supervisors, determine whether corrective measures could have prevented incident and document findings.

CPI Alignment
The CPI training program provides a model for assessing and gathering incident data to aid staff in performing this important evaluation process.

Staff can use the debriefing model to analyze each incident to assess their intervention strategies, identifying what worked well and what might be adapted to prevent future occurrences of the escalating behavior. This would also include debriefing with anyone else involved, with a focus on orienting to the basic precipitating factors that led up to the incident and how to remove or mitigate those factors in the future.

Each HCE shall provide training and education to its health care workers who may be exposed to workplace violence and risks (there are no additional details, specifications or requirements to this section)

CPI Alignment
CPI provides multiple levels of training that organizations can provide to staff based on their role and risk of exposure to crisis situations. With these levels of training, all roles and departments can be involved in the training process with applicable and relevant skillsets. CPI encourages refresher training on a regular basis making it easy to provide policy updates to staff in a timely manner.

HCEs must maintain records regarding violence prevention plans & an incident log recording all violence incidents & records of investigations

CPI Alignment
CPI requires all trainings to be documented and validated to maintain records of an organization’s training process.

CPI recommends that each incident of violence be documented as part of the post-incident process.

HCEs shall adopt a policy that prohibits any person from discrimination or retaliation against health care worker for:

• Reporting or seeking assistance or intervention or participating in an incident investigation
• Reasonably acting in self-defense