OSHA has proposed a new rule, OAR 437-002-0150, to implement the workplace violence prevention requirements of Senate Bill 537, enacted in 2025.
The proposal would create a dedicated OSHA standard for healthcare employers, placing Oregon alongside California, Washington, Minnesota, Virginia, and New Jersey in the growing list of states with healthcare-specific workplace violence prevention mandates.
The proposed rule requires healthcare entities, including hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, home health agencies, and home hospice programs, to:
- conduct periodic safety and security assessments to identify existing threats of workplace violence;
- develop and implement a workplace violence prevention and protection program based on the assessments;
- provide annual workplace violence prevention and protection training; and
- consult with safety committees on procedures to investigate, collect, and report on incidents of workplace violence.
This new rule imposes more robust compliance obligations than the federal OSHA, which has no healthcare-specific workplace violence standard. The public comment period closed on August 31, and the tentative adoption of the proposed rule is scheduled for October, with an effective date of January 2027.