Sacramento, CA — Employers in California can be required to ascertain, implement and keep a workplace violence prevention program, below a brand new state law.
Signed Sept. 30 by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), S.B. 553 directs California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health to speed up its growth of a regular on workplace violence prevention by establishing an efficient date of July 1. Cal/OSHA has been engaged on a Workplace Violence General Industry Draft for the previous six years.
Initially, the invoice would have banned employer insurance policies that direct non-security employees to confront shoplifters, however that portion was eliminated after suggestions from enterprise house owners. Newsom contends the law balances the necessity to defend employees whereas making certain companies can reply to retail theft.
“Employers are already required to take steps to protect workers from workplace hazards, and this bill strengthens those protections by providing specific guidelines for what employers must do to protect workers from acts or threats of violence at work,” Newsom wrote in a letter addressed to members of the state Senate after signing the invoice.
Also below the law, employers can be required to:
- Maintain a “violent incident log” of all incidents in opposition to workers – together with particulars on post-incident investigations and response.
- Inform employees on the best way to get assist from law enforcement or different workers assigned to reply to workplace violence emergencies.
- Allow an worker consultant to be a petitioner for a brief workplace violence restraining order.
- Identify these liable for implementing the plans and spell out roles, trainings and protocols for assessing and reacting to threats of workplace violence.
Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), the invoice’s sponsor, started engaged on the laws after a May 2021 workplace capturing in his district that left 10 lifeless. Included in that complete was the shooter, a disgruntled railyard upkeep employee.
“This groundbreaking law will help workers and employers establish a plan for the types of workplace violence that are on the rise,” Cortese mentioned in a press launch. “I applaud my colleagues and Gov. Newsom for recognizing the necessity of this law.”
