by Employers across the U.S. are concerned about workplace violence. How employers address their concerns varies significantly from place to place. Effective July 1, 2024, employers in one state, California, will be required to develop and implement consistent policies and practices aimed at minimizing and preventing workplace violence. Employers outside California should review the recently published online employer-support materials to see if there are useful resources that they can leverage to create policies and practices to reduce the impact of violence in their workplaces.
The California law requires that the majority of employers in the state establish, implement, and maintain a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan that includes:
- How to accept and respond to reports of workplace violence.
- Creating and providing workplace violence prevention training for supervisors and employees.
- Creating an emergency response plan to address incidents effectively.
- Conducting workplace violence hazard assessments.
- Maintaining a Violent Incident Log.
If these kinds of issues concern your workplace, check out the model policies, guidelines, and communication tools published by the California Department of Industrial Relations. The employer-support material includes Workplace Violence Prevention materials for both General Industry (Non-Health Care Settings) and Health Care Settings:
https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/Workplace-Violence/General-Industry.html
https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/workplace-violence-prevention-in-healthcare.html
Employers may find these resources a good place to start when developing or refining violence prevention policies and processes that fit their workplaces. Some of the regulatory references and other material will not apply outside the state of California, but other sections of the resources may be adaptable to the needs and culture of the individual workplace.
