PLEASE NOTE: Legislative Information cannot perform research, provide legal advice, or interpret Maine law. For legal assistance, please contact a qualified attorney.
An Act To Improve the Safety of Workers Who Provide Direct Mental Health and Social Services
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §51  is enacted to read:
§ 51. Workplace violence prevention
 
1.  Commissioner.     The commissioner shall by rule require that direct service programs providing direct social services to clients and operated, licensed or funded by the department establish a workplace violence prevention program for direct service workers. For the purposes of this section, "direct service worker" includes mental health workers, social workers, human services workers and all employees and volunteers having regular direct contact with clients and members of the public. Rules adopted under this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
 
2.  Assessment.     A workplace violence prevention program established pursuant to subsection 1 must assess and annually review the operations of the direct service program to determine factors that may put direct service workers at risk for workplace violence, including, but not limited to, working outside normal business hours, working alone or working with individuals in crisis or with known histories of violent behavior.
 
3.  Program requirements.     Based on the factors identified by the assessment and review conducted under subsection 2, a direct service program shall:
 
A.  Establish a system for centrally recording all incidents of workplace violence and threats of workplace violence against direct service workers;
 
B.  Prepare a written workplace violence prevention and crisis response plan that includes measures to respond to an incident of workplace violence against a direct service worker;
 
C.  Provide each direct service worker with a copy of the workplace violence prevention and crisis response plan under paragraph B;
 
D.  Implement training to educate direct service workers about workplace violence and ways to reduce the risk of workplace violence; and
 
E.  Develop and maintain a workplace violence prevention and crisis response team to monitor ongoing compliance with the workplace violence prevention and crisis response plan under paragraph B and to assist direct service workers affected by or threatened with workplace violence.
 
SUMMARY
This bill requires all programs providing direct services to clients that are operated, licensed or funded by the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a workplace violence prevention program, including a workplace violence prevention and crisis response plan, to educate, train and assist direct service workers who may be affected by or threatened with workplace violence.