REPORT TITLE:
Hospitals; Violence


DESCRIPTION:
Requires all hospitals to have security plans and provides
criteria; requires reporting of any criminal assault on on-duty
hospital personnel within 48 hours to local law enforcement
agency.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.2184
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT
RELATING TO HOSPITAL VIOLENCE.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Chapter 323, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
 2 by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to
 
 3 read as follows:
 
 4      "§323-    Security and safety assessment; reporting of
 
 5 assaults.  (a)  Every hospital operating in this State, private
 
 6 or public, shall conduct a security and safety assessment to
 
 7 examine trends of aggressive or violent behavior at the facility.
 
 8 As part of this assessment, hospitals shall track incidents of
 
 9 aggressive or violent behavior for the purposes of developing a
 
10 security plan to deter and manage future aggressive or violent
 
11 acts of a similar nature.  Using the assessment, hospitals shall
 
12 develop a security plan with measures to protect personnel,
 
13 patients, and visitors from incidents of aggressive or violent
 
14 behavior.  The security plan shall include, but shall not be
 
15 limited to, security considerations relating to all of the
 
16 following:
 
17      (1)  Physical layout;
 
18      (2)  Staffing;
 
19      (3)  Security personnel availability;
 
20      (4)  Policy related to appropriate responses to violent
 

 
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 1           acts; and
 
 2      (5)  Personnel training designed to protect hospital
 
 3           personnel, patients, and visitors from aggressive or
 
 4           violent behavior.
 
 5 In developing this plan, the hospital shall consider any
 
 6 guidelines or standards on violence in health care facilities
 
 7 issued by the state or federal occupational safety and health
 
 8 administration.
 
 9      (b)  The individual or members of a hospital committee
 
10 responsible for developing the security plan shall be familiar
 
11 with all of the following:
 
12      (1)  The role of security in hospital operations;
 
13      (2)  Hospital organization;
 
14      (3)  Protective measures, including alarms and access
 
15           control;
 
16      (4)  The handling of disturbed patients, visitors, and
 
17           employees;
 
18      (5)  Identification of aggression and violence predicting
 
19           factors;
 
20      (6)  Hospital safety and emergency preparedness; and
 
21      (7)  The rudiments of documenting and reporting crimes,
 
22           including, by way of example, not disturbing a crime
 
23           scene.
 

 
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 1      (c)  The hospital shall provide sufficient personnel to
 
 2 provide security according to the security plan developed
 
 3 pursuant to subsection (a).  Persons regularly assigned to
 
 4 provide security in a hospital setting shall be trained regarding
 
 5 the role of security in hospital operations, including the
 
 6 identification of aggression and violence predicting factors and
 
 7 management of violent disturbances.
 
 8      (d)  Any act of criminal assault, as defined in chapter 707,
 
 9 that results in injury or involves the use of a firearm or other
 
10 dangerous instrument against any on-duty hospital personnel shall
 
11 be reported to the local law enforcement agency within forty-
 
12 eight hours of the incident.  No hospital or employee of a
 
13 hospital who reports a known or suspected instance of criminal
 
14 assault pursuant to this section shall be civilly or criminally
 
15 liable for any report required by this section.  Any individual
 
16 knowingly interfering with or obstructing the lawful reporting
 
17 process shall be guilty of a misdemeanor."
 
18      SECTION 2.  New statutory material is underscored.
 
19      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
20 
 
21                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________