OpEd: Violence Prevention Plans Are Useful

Mass shootings are tragic, no matter where or when they occur. However, is it reasonable to require nearly all California employers to try to prevent violence from occurring in the workplace?

This is the question many employers across our Golden State have been grappling with as they do their best to comply with California’s new Senate Bill 553 safety mandate. SB 553 requires most employers, unless they are exempt, to put a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (WVPP) in place and train their employees on their own custom plan not only this year, but at least once annually moving forward.     

SB 553 exemptions include:

• Employers already covered by the Healthcare WVPP standard.

• Facilities operated by the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation and law enforcement agencies.

• Employees teleworking from a location of their choice that is not under the control of the employer.

• Places of employment that are not accessible to the public and have less than 10 employees working at the site at any given time and have a compliant Injury Illness Prevention Program. 

For context, Cal/OSHA had already begun working on a workplace violence general industry draft when a mass shooting occurred at a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority rail yard in San Jose in 2021. In the shooting, an employee killed nine fellow employees before taking his own life. This traumatic event prompted state Sen. Dave Cortese to accelerate the general industry requirements, with Senate Bill 553. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 553 in September of 2023, and it went into effect on July 1.

Cal/OSHA released several resources to help employers, employees and agricultural operations comply with this new requirement on March 1. However, even with the advance notice and the resources, many businesses are still struggling to put their own WVPP in place and calling our office for guidance. 

As a trade association, the California Employers Association (CEA) is in a…