Advocates are applauding New Jersey lawmakers for their efforts to keep health care workers protected. Assembly majority leader Louis Greenwald (D-Camden) and Sen. Troy Singleton (D-Burlington) are sponsoring a bill known as the Health Care Heroes Violence Prevention Act.

If the bill is passed, anyone found guilty of abusing a person working at a health care facility would face a tougher punishment than currently applies. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, health care workers are five times as likely to suffer a violent workplace injury as workers in any other profession.