4 Key Elements to an Effective Workplace Violence Prevention Plan Part 4
In this piece, the final one in a four part series, I discuss the remaining elements needed for an effective workplace violence prevention plan including policies, violence incident logs, compliance, and training requirements.
With very limited exceptions, California requires all employers to “establish, implement, and maintain an effective workplace violence prevention plan” by July 1.
I learned about violence, its causes, and its prevention during my 30 years of conducting civil and criminal litigation investigations, as well as third-party internal fact-finding investigations. And field tested the information I learned to keep myself safe while working in some very dangerous environments.
Get started working on your workplace violence prevention plan today by downloading my free CA workplace violence prevention checklist.
California’s Definition of Workplace Violence
California requires employers to do far more than just create a policy prohibiting workplace violence. I’ve previously covered what California requires and the differences between a workplace violence prevention policy, plan, and program.
It’s can be beneficial to use California’s definition of workplace violence and threats of violence within your workplace violence prohibition policy:
California defines workplace violence as (includes but not limited to) (i) “The threat or use of physical force against an employee that results in, or has a high likelihood of resulting in, injury, psychological trauma, or stress, regardless of whether the employee sustains an injury.”
(II) “An incident involving a threat or use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon, including the use of common objects as weapons, regardless of whether the employee sustains an injury.”
California defines the threat of violence as “any verbal or written statement, including, but not limited to, texts, electronic messages, social media messages, or other online posts, or any behavioral or physical conduct, that conveys an intent, or that is reasonably perceived to convey an intent, to cause the physical harm or to place someone in fear of physical harm, and that serves no legitimate purpose.”
California also clearly distinguishes between self-defense and the defense of others and workplace violence. California law permits the use of force to defend yourself, and to defend others facing workplace violence.
Creating a Violence Incident Log. What to Put In. What to Leave Out.
California requires employers to create and use a violence incident log to record violence incidents and threats of violence. The information to be entered into the log will most often be developed from information obtained through witness interviews and party statements, as well as the results from the investigation conducted in response to a violence incident and includes:
- The relationship of the person who committed the violence to the victim and the entity as it relates to the four sources of workplace violence. Read more here.
- Circumstances of the incident including the type of work being done, the staffing level, whether the victim was working alone or with others.
- The type setting i.e. community setting, parking lot, new or unfamiliar location or at the workplace.
- Whether the violence involved a weapon and if so the type of weapon.
- The type of violence, i.e. threat of force, use of force, or sexual assault.
- The consequences of attack.
- Who was contacted regarding the incident including law enforcement, security, HR etc.
- Actions taken to protect employee from further threats or other violence hazards connected to the incident.
California requires you to omit personal identifying information for anyone involved in the incident, and to omit any medical related information. These steps can help to reduce the risk of retaliation, and to prevent accidental release of protected medical information.
Compliance Elements
California requires that employers identify effective procedures to ensure compliance with the plan at all levels within the organization. This includes:
- Identifying the individuals responsible for developing and implementing the plan.
- Identifying individuals responsible for training employees in the elements of the plan including their background and qualifications for conducting the trainings.
- Providing a training schedule for employees including when the plan is initially created. Annually thereafter. Training for each new hire. At the identification of any new or previously unrecognized hazards.
- And after any incident of workplace violence.
Implementation and Employee Training
California requires that employers not just create a plan, but implement it too. To take what you’ve created on paper and turn it into action. And that begins by reviewing the plan for effectiveness and then revising it as needed. Implementing your plan includes:
- Conducting assessments to identify violence hazards.
- Taking corrective actions to mitigate the hazards that you identify.
- Implementing incident response processes, including an effective complaint and investigation system, and creating and training an incident response team.
You’ll also need to provide employees with a variety of trainings including:
- Training in the existence of, and all aspects of, the plan.
- Training in different safety practices, especially in strategies to avoid physical harm from workplace violence that are specific to the nature of your employees’ work.
- Training in parking lot safety, and other physical environments, and in safety protocols and procedures to follow when an incident is underway.
- Training your emergency response team to handle a variety of workplace violence incidents including in defense of others if needed.
I hope this four part series on creating an effective workplace violence prevention plan has been beneficial. There’s a lot to put together.
If you’d like someone familiar with workplace violence prevention to look over the workplace violence prevention plan and program you’re developing, send me an email at [email protected].
