Vermont § 1911b - Workplace violence prevention planning

§ 1911b. Workplace violence prevention planning

• (a)(1) A hospital licensed pursuant to this chapter shall establish and implement a security
  plan for preventing workplace violence and managing aggressive behaviors. Each hospital
  shall establish a team for the purpose of providing advice during the development
  of the hospital’s security plan. The hospital shall select individuals from the following
  groups to serve on its security plan development team: (A) health care employees providing direct patient care at the hospital; (B) representatives from the designated agency serving the region where the hospital is
  located; and (C) representatives of relevant law enforcement agencies. (2) The security plan shall be based on the results of a security risk assessment that
  addresses all high-risk areas of the hospital, including the emergency department,
  and all patient care areas. The security risk assessment shall be conducted in consultation
  with the medical and nursing directors of each department and those hospital employees
  supervising other high-risk areas of the hospital. The security risk assessment shall
  consider overall patient volume, crime rates in the community, and the availability
  of law enforcement to respond to violent incidents at the hospital. (3) The security plan shall include an option for health care employees who provide direct
  patient care to request an identification badge containing only their first name or
  their first name and last initial. (4)(A) The security plan shall require at least one hospital employee trained in de-escalation
  strategies to be present at all times in the hospital’s emergency department and all
  other patient care areas. (B) The security plan shall require that a hospital employee trained in trauma-informed
  care and victim support serve as a liaison to law enforcement, support victims through
  the legal process, and ensure that the response to incidents of violence at the hospital
  prioritizes the safety and retention of hospital employees providing health care services
  to the extent permitted under State and federal law. (5) The security plan shall establish training requirements for appropriate hospital employees
  on the following: (A) the culture of safety as determined by the hospital; (B) response to the presence or use of weapons; (C) defensive tactics; (D) de-escalation techniques; (E) appropriate physical restraint and seclusion techniques; (F) crisis intervention; (G) trauma-informed care and strategies; (H) clinician well-being practices; (I) presence and intervention of law enforcement; and (J) safely addressing situations involving patients, family members, or other individuals
  who pose a risk of self-harm or harm to others. (6) The security plan shall include guidelines indicating when a law enforcement officer
  should remain with a patient who has demonstrated violence or harm to others. The
  guidelines shall be developed jointly by a health care provider representative and
  law enforcement. (7)(A) A hospital shall review and evaluate the security plan developed pursuant to this
  subsection annually in conjunction with the data collected pursuant to subdivision
  (b)(3) of this section. If necessary, the hospital shall revise the security plan. (B) The security plan and any annual revisions to the security plan shall be distributed
  annually to all hospital employees, volunteers, the hospital’s board of directors,
  relevant law enforcement agencies, and any other partners identified by the security
  plan development team. (b)(1) A hospital licensed pursuant to this chapter shall establish and utilize a workplace
  violence incident reporting system to document, track, analyze, and evaluate incidents
  of workplace violence at the hospital. Data collection through the reporting system
  and resulting analysis shall be used to improve workplace safety and to manage aggressive
  behaviors, including improvements achieved through continuing education in targeted
  areas such as de-escalation training, risk identification, and prevention planning. (2) All hospital employees shall be notified about the existence of the reporting system
  and shall receive training on how to report incidents of workplace violence to the
  hospital, hospital security, law enforcement, or any other entity the hospital deems
  appropriate. (3) A hospital shall use its reporting system to track the following: (A) the number of reported incidents; and (B) the number of incidents reported to law enforcement.