Two down; one to go
Second ‘Stop Workplace Violence’ bill becomes law
Two
down; one to go
Second ‘Stop Workplace Violence’ bill becomes law
By DARCY WELLS
Gov. Eliot Spitzer signed into law the Workplace Injury Disclosure and
Accountability bill on July 9, making it the second victory for PEF’s Stop
Workplace Violence campaign.
“The governor recognizes with the signing of this bill, the importance of
reducing work-related injuries in state agencies and improving safety programs,”
said PEF President Ken Brynien.
The law requires the Department of Civil Service to produce an annual report on
state employees’ workers’ compensation injuries and related costs to help
agencies identify prevention strategies. The Civil Service Department has not
produced such a report for 15 years.
“This law is long overdue,” Brynien said. “It will go a long way in helping to
identify trends and reduce workers’ compensation costs by preventing injury and
illness on the job.”
The state estimates its annual cost for workers compensation claims by injured
state employees to be more than $200 million, yet without injury information to
draw from, the ability to reduce costs and prevent workplace injuries was
limited.
“This is a major victory for state employees and the taxpayers,” said Jonathan
Rosen, director of PEF’s Health and Safety Department.
“Union leaders and agency managers will now have information about workplace
assaults and all types of occupational injuries, so they can plan interventions
to improve the health and safety of state workers and reduce the negative effect
workplace injuries have on our members, their families, co-workers and their
agencies.”
The campaign
PEF mounted an aggressive Stop Workplace Violence Campaign in 2005, urging
passage of three bills including the Workplace Injury Disclosure and
Accountability bill that was just signed into law.
In June 2006, the Workplace Violence Prevention bill was signed into law. That
law requires public employers with more than 20 employees to assess risk and
develop and implement a written plan to prevent workplace violence.
One more
“There is one more bill we continue to push for as part of this campaign,”
Brynien said.
“The Judi Scanlon bill also must become law for the safety of our members who
conduct home visits on mentally ill patients.”
The legislation is named for PEF member, RN and intensive case manager Judi
Scanlon who was murdered in November 1998, while conducting a home visit in
Buffalo. Her patient attacked and killed her.
The Scanlon bill would direct that an Office of Mental Health employee who is
required to enter the residence of a person with serious mental illness can
request to be accompanied by another employee for safety reasons.
The Senate passed the bill. It remains in the Assembly Mental Health Committee.