STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2925

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2569

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2569, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WORKPLACE SAFETY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to allow a person who employs or contracts with a health care worker who suffers an act of violence at the health care facility to report the event to law enforcement and petition for a temporary restraining order and injunction under certain circumstances.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiʻi State Center for Nursing, Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, and one individual.

Your Committee finds that while Act 147, Session Laws of Hawaii 2018, expanded protections for all health care workers who are victims of an act of violence, more can be done via legislation to provide a health care worker the legal safeguards that are critical in the aftermath of an assault. Your Committee further finds that a 2023 report published by the Hawaiʻi State Center for Nursing found that sixty-four percent of all nurses experienced some type of physical or verbal violence by a patient or visitor in the last twelve months. This measure will prioritize the safety and security of health care workers by allowing an employer to seek proper legal and safety protections in the event of an act of violence.

Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2569, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2569, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

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KARL RHOADS, Chair