Seyfarth Synopsis: Following California’s Workplace Violence Prevention Plan regulation becoming effective, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“Cal/OSHA”) recently published its draft Workplace Violence Prevention regulation. It is seeking public comments by September 3, 2024, with an advisory committee hearing scheduled for later this year.
As we recently blogged, the State of California implemented one of the largest efforts at requiring employers to implement and enforce workplace violence protections in the country. SB 553, covering nearly every employer in the state, became effective on July 1, 202. As part of the legislation, Cal/OSHA has been ordered to develop a Workplace Violence Prevention regulation and present it to the Board before December 31, 2025. Cal/OSHA recently published its initial draft regulation (Title 8 CCR 3343), which contains more specific workplace violence prevention requirements, including engineering controls. Under SB 553, a new regulation must be adopted by December 31, 2026.
In the draft regulation, Cal/OSHA requires, among other things, that employers implement engineering controls and work practice (a/k/a “administrative”) controls appropriate for the workplace to eliminate or minimize employee exposure to identified workplace violence hazards. The draft regulation then goes on to define engineering controls to include:
electronic or mechanical access controls to employee occupied areas; weapon detectors (installed or handheld); enclosed workstations with shatter-resistant glass; deep service counters; spaces configured to optimize employee access to exits, escape routes, and alarms; separate rooms or areas for high risk persons; locks on doors; furniture affixed to the floor; opaque glass (protects privacy, but allows employees to see where potential risks are); improving lighting in dark areas, sight-aids, improving visibility, and removing sight barriers; video monitoring and recording; and personal and workplace alarms.
Work practice controls would be defined as including:
appropriate staffing levels; provision of dedicated security personnel; an effective means to alert employees of the presence, location, and nature of a security threat; control of visitor entry; methods and procedures to prevent unauthorized firearms and weapons in the workplace; employee training on workplace violence prevention methods; and employee training on procedures to follow in the event of a workplace violence incident or emergency.
While the standard was drafted by the Legislature as a “performance standard” that permits employers to choose the engineering and administrative controls best suited for their worksites to minimize exposure, Cal/OSHA’s draft regulation creates the realistic potential that the agency will enforce it as a “specification standard,” creating risk for employers who do not consider and implement the specific controls included in the definition.
Comments on the draft standard are due by September 3, 2024, with an advisory committee hearing scheduled for later this fall. Those in the regulated community can consider consulting with experienced counsel to assist in submitting comments to Cal/OSHA.
