Keeping Your Employees Safe

Years ago, a disgruntled ex-employee drove from Southern California to the CEA Main Office in Sacramento, to deliver a manifesto and an oversized conspiracy-style poster board he had created, accusing CEA of destroying his career. This person claimed that he had been wronged in a harassment investigation that CEA had conducted (on behalf of a member); and told our receptionist that he personally wanted to deliver this information to me. Thank goodness I was out of the office that day!

The next day I had a keyless push button electronic lock installed on the front door, contacted our member to inform them of this safety concern, and contacted the police. This person continued to threaten me by email for weeks until our attorney sent him a cease and desist letter, and the threats finally stopped. It was a scary situation and thankfully no one was hurt! We had never experienced a situation like this. It was a good wake-up call and made me rethink what steps CEA should take to keep our employees safe. Unfortunately, similar scenarios are occurring all over the US more frequently and rarely have a good ending.

SB 553 and WVPP

In September 2023 Governor Newsom signed SB 553, requiring employers in California to create workplace violence prevention safety requirements for their employees by July 1, 2024. Yes, now! By July 1, 2024, most businesses must have a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (WVPP) in place, solicit employee (and union) feedback, and provide WVPP training to their employees annually. Each plan must be customized to the needs of an individual business and CEA is here to guide you through this process.

The intention behind a WVPP is to keep your employees safe in all types of situations. An effective WVPP must address threats from coworkers, customers, vendors, former employees, an employee’s family member or significant other, or from complete strangers. Examples include:

• Physical attacks without a weapon, including biting, choking, grabbing, hair pulling, kicking, punching, slapping, pushing, pulling, scratching, or spitting.
• Attacks with a weapon or object, including, but not limited to, a firearm, knife, or other object.
• Threats of physical force or threat of the use of a weapon or other object.
• A Sexual assault of threat, including, but not limited to, rape, attempted rape, physical display, or unwanted verbal or physical sexual contact.

Starting in July, employers will also be required to record all workplace violence incidents on an incident log and maintain those records for a minimum of five years.  Cal/OSHA will enforce the requirements of WVPP’s under SB 553 (Labor Code Section 6401.9).

There are exemptions to SB 553, such as:

• Businesses and employers already covered by the Workplace Violence Prevention Standard for Healthcare
• When 100% of your employees are teleworking from a location of the employees’ choice that is not under the control of the employer
• Places of employment not accessible to the public, with less than 10 employees working onsite at any given time, with a compliant Injury and Illness Prevention Plan
• Facilities operated by the CA Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation and law enforcement agencies

Resources

CEA members can download a free Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Workplace Violence Prevention Plan Tool Kit, on the Employer Tool Kits page of our website.

If you missed our first live WVPP DIY Webinar in May, join us for a 90-minute encore presentation on June 20, 2024. A Cal/OSHA consultant will be joining us!

And, last but not least, if you can’t join us live, or maybe you need to share this information with other members of your management team, you can purchase our recorded DIY WVPP webinar and WVPP toolkit in the CEA Store.

Here’s to enjoying summer and keeping your employees safe at work!