Joint Commission · Primary source
NPG.02.04.01 Crosswalk: Where the 2022 Workplace Violence EPs Went
On January 1, 2026, the Joint Commission relocated the hospital workplace violence prevention requirements from the EC, HR, and LD chapters into the National Performance Goals chapter. The substance is largely unchanged — this is a renumbering, not a rewrite — but every policy header, crosswalk document, and survey binder that cites the old numbers is now out of date. Here is the map.
On this page
Section 01
The old-to-new citation map
Four 2022-era citations carried the hospital workplace violence requirements. Each has a current home:
| LD.03.01.01 EP 9 → NPG.02.04.01 EP 1 | The program requirement: designated leader, multidisciplinary team, policies and procedures. EP 1 also makes explicit the incident-analysis/trending loop, victim and witness support (including trauma and psychological counseling if necessary), and reporting of incidents to the governing body — write your leadership policy to all of EP 1, not just the old LD language. |
|---|---|
| HR.01.05.03 EP 29 → NPG.02.04.01 EP 2 | Training at hire, annually, and on program change, role-scaled. Substantively continuous; the content list (definition, roles, de-escalation and intervention, reporting) carries over. |
| EC.02.01.01 EP 17 → NPG.02.04.01 EP 3 | The annual worksite analysis plus action on findings. Substantively continuous. |
| EC.04.01.01 → NPG.11.01.01 EP 3 | Incident reporting and investigation moved to Goal 11 (“The hospital manages security risks” under “maintains workplace and patient safety”): continual monitoring, internal reporting, and investigation of safety and security incidents, including workplace violence. Note it landed in a different goal than the program requirement — a binder organized only around NPG.02.04.01 misses it. |
Honest framing: for most hospitals this change demands documentation hygiene, not new practice. If your program satisfied the 2022 EPs, it satisfies the 2026 ones — what changes is every place your documents cite a standard number.
Section 02
What actually has to change in your binder
- Update policy headers and citation references — every policy, plan, and charter that cites EC.02.01.01 EP 17, EC.04.01.01, LD.03.01.01 EP 9, or HR.01.05.03 EP 29 gets the NPG citation added (keep the old number parenthetically for the audit trail).
- Update your internal crosswalk document — the table mapping Chapter 331 elements to accreditor citations is the artifact a surveyor actually reads.
- Check your governing-body reporting record against EP 1 — incident reporting to the governing body is explicit in the new language; board minutes should show it.
- Re-point your incident-monitoring evidence at NPG.11.01.01 EP 3 so the reporting loop is cited where it now lives.
- Leave your practice unchanged unless a gap surfaces — the worksite analysis, training cadence, and reporting loop are substantively the same requirements.
Section 03
Which programs are on NPG versus NPSG
| On National Performance Goals (Jan. 1, 2026) | Hospital and Critical Access Hospital programs only. |
|---|---|
| Still on National Patient Safety Goals | Behavioral health care & human services, home care, ambulatory care, laboratory, assisted living, nursing care centers, office-based surgery — each with its own WPV numbering and effective dates. |
Home care keeps EC/HR/LD-based numbering from its 2025 rollout, and behavioral health trains under HRM.01.05.01 EP 17 — do not carry hospital citations into either.
Section 04
Getting the citations right without re-doing the program
VIGILO’s Joint Commission readiness engagement includes the citation refresh: policy headers, the crosswalk document, and the binder re-pointed to NPG.02.04.01 and NPG.11.01.01, verified against the current public standards. Paired with a mock survey, the updated citations get rehearsed, not just filed.
Key dates
Dates that matter
- Jan. 1, 2022
Original EPs effective
EC.02.01.01 EP 17, EC.04.01.01, LD.03.01.01 EP 9, HR.01.05.03 EP 29 take effect for hospitals and CAHs.
- Jan. 1, 2026
Relocation
Accreditation 360 replaces EC/LS with a Physical Environment chapter and moves WPV to NPG.02.04.01 (+ NPG.11.01.01 EP 3).
Primary sources
- The Joint Commission — National Performance Goals, Hospital program, effective Jan. 1, 2026 (NPG.02.04.01; NPG.11.01.01).
- The Joint Commission — Workplace Violence Prevention Standards (2022): EC.02.01.01 EP 17; EC.04.01.01; LD.03.01.01 EP 9; HR.01.05.03 EP 29 (retired numbering for hospitals/CAHs).
- The Joint Commission — Accreditation 360 Physical Environment chapter materials (2025–2026).
Part of the the Joint Commission compliance hub.
Frequently asked
Frequently asked questions
Did the workplace violence requirements change substantively in 2026?
Largely no — the relocation into the National Performance Goals chapter is a renumbering with consolidation. The practice obligations (designated leader, training cadence, annual worksite analysis, incident reporting and support) carry over. The work is updating every document that cites the old numbers, and confirming your governing-body reporting record matches EP 1’s explicit language.
Do I need to rewrite my policies for NPG.02.04.01?
You need to re-cite them, not rewrite them. Update headers and citation references, keep the old number parenthetically for the audit trail, and verify content against the three EPs — most 2022-compliant policies pass unchanged.
Where did EC.04.01.01 incident reporting go?
To NPG.11.01.01 EP 3, under Goal 11 — a different goal than the program requirement at NPG.02.04.01. Binders organized only around the program citation commonly miss it.
Do these new numbers apply to home care or behavioral health?
No. Only hospitals and critical access hospitals moved to the NPG chapter. Home care keeps its 2025 EC/HR/LD-based numbering and behavioral health its 2024 set (training at HRM.01.05.01 EP 17).
Find out where your program stands
A Survey-Readiness Audit scores your program against NPG.02.04.01, Texas Chapter 331, and OSHA's framework — in one document, with a prioritized findings list.