New York has moved to strengthen protections for healthcare workers with the introduction of a new law mandating workplace violence prevention programmes across hospitals and nursing homes.
Signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul on 12 December 2025, Senate Bill S5294-B requires healthcare facilities in the state to take structured action to prevent and respond to violence in clinical settings. The legislation comes amid rising reports of assaults and abuse targeting healthcare workers nationwide and follows the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s decision to pause work on a national workplace violence prevention standard.
Under the new law, general hospitals and nursing homes must establish workplace violence prevention programmes by September 2027. The requirements apply to facilities defined as general hospitals or nursing homes and introduce new obligations around risk assessment, planning, training and security.
For general hospitals, the law requires alignment with existing federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations on emergency preparedness and patient safety. These regulations already mandate regular risk assessments, emergency response strategies and coordination with local and federal authorities. Hospitals will now need to ensure that these plans explicitly address workplace violence risks and include training for staff.
Nursing homes will be considered compliant if they meet federal long-term care emergency preparedness requirements, provided these plans also cover workplace violence threats and hazards.
From 1 January 2027, general hospitals will face additional requirements. They must conduct annual workplace safety and security assessments and develop site-specific safety and security plans to address identified risks. These plans must consider factors such as hospital layout, previous incidents, and concerns raised by staff, patients or visitors. Importantly, employees and their collective bargaining representatives must be actively involved in developing these plans.
Hospitals will also be required to implement measures to reduce identified risks, which may include staff training, increased staffing levels, physical security enhancements or changes to hospital infrastructure. Workers must be informed of the plans and of procedures for reporting incidents of workplace violence.
The law also introduces mandatory security staffing for emergency departments. Hospitals in jurisdictions with populations of one million or more must have at least one trained security officer or off-duty law enforcement officer present in emergency rooms at all times, subject to limited exceptions. Smaller jurisdictions must ensure a constant on-site security presence, prioritising proximity to emergency departments. Certain rural and critical access hospitals are exempt, unless violence rates increase.
The New York legislation positions the state as a leader in addressing workplace violence in healthcare, filling a regulatory gap left at the federal level and setting a potential model for other states to follow.
