An Act To Improve Workplace Safety

CONCEPT DRAFT SUMMARY

This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208.

This bill proposes to improve workplace safety and eliminate workplace violence by:

1. Requiring the Department of Labor to develop a policy on violence in the workplace;

2. Requiring the policy to be posted in all places of employment;

3. For employers with 15 or more employees, requiring education regarding the policy for new hires and managers;

4. Requiring security systems with “panic buttons” for those businesses that are open other than during regular business hours; and

5. Creating a task force to improve workplace safety and reduce workplace violence. Members of the task force would include representatives from: law enforcement; business; the Department of Labor; the Maine Human Rights Commission; the Society for Human Resource Management or a similar association of human resource managers; and an advocate for victims of workplace violence.