Hospital Workplace Violence Reporting Requirements, the official text

Hospital Workplace Violence Reporting Requirements
2026 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Katy Hall
Senate Sponsor: Jen Plumb

LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill addresses workplace violence at hospitals.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill: requires hospitals to track and report instances of workplace violence.

Money Appropriated in this Bill: None Other Special Clauses: None Utah Code Sections Affected: AMENDS:
63I-2-276, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2025, Chapters 173, 208

ENACTS:
26B-2-244, Utah Code Annotated 1953

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 26B-2-244 is enacted to read:
26B-2-244. Workplace violence incident reporting in hospitals.
(1) As used in this section: (a) "Hospital" means: (i) a general acute hospital, as that term is defined in Section 26B-2-201; or
(ii) a specialty hospital, as that term is defined in Section 26B-2-201.

(b) "Workplace violence" means the same as that term is defined in Section 78B-7-1101.

(2) On or before November 1, 2026, a hospital shall: (a) establish a workplace violence incident reporting system;
(b) record all reported incidents of workplace violence as voluntarily reported by an employee;
(c) adopt a policy that prohibits discrimination or retaliation against an employee for reporting or participating in an investigation;
(d) analyze collected data;
(e) maintain the record of reported workplace violence incidents for at least two years; and
(f) report data collected to the chief medical officer and the chief nursing officer on a quarterly basis.

(3) A workplace violence incident reporting system shall: (a) collect information regarding a workplace violence incident, including: (i) the date and time of the incident;
(ii) a description of the incident;
(iii) the job category of the victim employees;
(iv) whether the perpetrator was a patient, visitor, or employee; and
(v) the immediate response to the incident;

(b) be clearly communicated to all employees, including new employees at orientation;
(c) include guidelines on when and how to report incidents of workplace violence to an employer, security agencies, and appropriate law enforcement authorities; and
(d) be used to make improvements in preventing workplace violence, including improvements achieved through continuing education in targeted areas, de-escalation training, risk identification, and violence prevention planning.

(4) A hospital shall report the number of workplace violence incidents annually to the department.

Section 2. Section 63I-2-276 is amended to read:
63I-2-276. Repeal dates: Title 76.
(1) Subsection 76-5-102.7(2)(b), regarding assault or threat of violence against an employee of a health facility, is repealed January 1, [2027] 2027.
(2) Subsection 76-11-218(10), regarding data collection requirements for a law enforcement agency that issues a written warning, citation, or referral, is repealed December 31, 2031.

Section 3. Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on May 6, 2026.

3-5-26 10:44 AM