Oregon workplace violence rules for health care take effect January 1

Oregon OSHA has adopted new workplace violence prevention rules for hospitals and other health care employers, effective January 1, 2027, the state announced in an October 22 bulletin. The rules follow Senate Bill 537 and add home health agencies and home hospice programs to the employers that need a prevention program.

Key points#

The rules cover about 62 hospitals, 91 surgical centers, 65 home health agencies and 74 home hospice programs, the bulletin said.
Covered employers need periodic security and safety assessments, a prevention program and yearly training, according to the bulletin.
Workplace violence now includes threats, harassment and intimidation, not only assault, the Ogletree law firm wrote.
Guard companies serving these sites should expect questions about training, logs and incident reports.

What the rules require#

Covered employers must carry out periodic security and safety assessments, build a prevention and protection program from them, and train workers every year, the state said. They must also consult a safety committee, or employees at safety meetings where allowed, on how incidents are investigated, collected and reported.

Incidents go on a workplace violence incident log or an equivalent, in addition to general injury and illness records, Ogletree wrote in the National Law Review.

The state also amended its discrimination complaint rule. An employee may file a complaint if they believe discrimination occurred for reporting a workplace violence incident, Safety+Health magazine reported.

Who is covered#

The new rule, OAR 437-002-0150, applies to hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, home health agencies and home hospice programs, Safety+Health reported. Hospitals and surgical centers have worked under an assault prevention program requirement since 2007, the bulletin noted.

Oregon OSHA said it would develop added resource materials, though none had been posted when the firm wrote its summary, Ogletree noted.

The sources we read do not describe duties for outside security vendors. The rules are written for the health care employer, so the effect on a guard company will come mainly through what its client asks for.

What it means for your company#

Talk to your health care clients now. Ask how officers fit into their assessment, their program and their incident log.
Match your reports to theirs. Agree on what an officer records, how quickly the client gets it, and who adds it to the log. Clear incident reporting makes this easier.
Review your site training. Check that your officer training covers threats and intimidation as well as physical assault.
Update the post orders. Add the client's reporting steps and contacts to the post orders for each covered site.
Get advice where the law matters. Ask an attorney or Oregon OSHA how the rules apply to your contracts.

Guardix lets officers file reports from the mobile app while clocked in, and companies can build their own report forms and choose which sites use each one.

Frequently asked questions#

When do Oregon's health care workplace violence rules take effect?#

The rules were adopted on October 21, 2026, and take effect on January 1, 2027, the state said.

Which employers do the rules cover?#

They cover hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, home health agencies and home hospice programs in Oregon, Safety+Health reported.

Sources#

Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services: Adopted Workplace Violence Prevention Rules for Health Care Employers, October 22, 2026
National Law Review (Ogletree): Oregon OSHA's New Healthcare Workplace Violence Prevention Rules, October 28, 2026
Safety+Health: Oregon adopts workplace violence prevention rules for health care settings, October 30, 2026