California DIR Releases Guidance for Drafting Workplace Violence Prevention Plans
Topics: Legal Information, New Laws & Legislation, OSHA Issues, Personnel Policies and Procedures
In September, California Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 553 into law. This bill enacted and added section 6401.9 into the California Labor Code.
Section 6401.9 requires that virtually all California employers draft and implement a comprehensive Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (“WVPP”) on or before July 1 of this year. For an outline of what is required, you can review our blog entry on this statute from October by clicking here.
Earlier this month, the California Department of Industrial Relations Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) published its long-awaited model workplace violence prevention plan. This model plan provides a good template for non-healthcare employers to use to draft their workplace violence prevention plans. It is important to note that this model plan is only a template. Each covered California employer must customize their WVPP to properly fit their workplace and their work locations in order to be in compliance.
In addition to the model plan, Cal/OSHA also published its Workplace Violence Prevention in Non-Health Care Settings – Information for Employers Fact Sheet. This Fact Sheet provides additional guidelines and explanations for California employers. It explains some of the key statutory requirements and includes, among other things:
- An outline of what must be contained within a compliant WVPP;
- Information on what is required when logging workplace violence incidents:
- An explanation of the new workplace violence training requirements; and
- Other details about the WVPP and preventing workplace violence in the workplace.
Finally, in addition to this information, Cal/OSHA has published Guidelines for Security and Safety of Health Care Workers, Workplace Violence Prevention Fact Sheets for Agricultural Employers and Employees, and a Workplace Violence Prevention Fact Sheet for Workers/Employees in Non-Health Care Work Settings. These publications are all available on the Cal/OSHA website under the Workplace Violence Prevention Tab.
These WVPPs are not simple, short documents. To fulfill the requirements of the statute, they must be comprehensive. A WVPP is not something that an employer can wait to the last minute and put together with little time and effort. California employers should begin this preparation process now, if they have not already done so. If you are a covered California employer who needs assistance with their WVPP, please contact your favorite CDF attorney.
