California Workplace Violence Prevention Plan template

2. What counts as workplace violence — the four types

Workplace violence is any act of violence or threat of violence in a place of employment — including any use of physical force against an employee and any incident involving a firearm or other dangerous weapon — whether or not anyone is injured. Lawful acts of self-defense or defense of others are not workplace violence. Labor Code 6401.9 sorts incidents into four types, and this plan, our hazard assessments, and the violent incident log all use them:

• Type 1 — violence by someone with no legitimate business at the worksite, such as a robbery or an intruder. [The dominant risk around late-night trading, cash handling, and lone working.]
• Type 2 — violence directed at employees by customers, clients, patients, or visitors. [The everyday risk in healthcare, hospitality, and customer-facing retail.]
• Type 3 — violence against an employee by a present or former employee, supervisor, or manager.
• Type 4 — violence at the workplace by someone who does not work there but has, or is known to have had, a personal relationship with an employee — domestic violence arriving at work.

3. Who is responsible

• Plan owner ([name(s), title(s)]): responsible for implementing and maintaining this plan and answering questions about it. The law requires the responsible people to be identified here — accountability, not a vacant job title.
• Supervisors and leads: apply the plan in their area, take every report seriously, start the response procedures, and never treat reporting violence or hazards as a performance problem.
• All employees: follow the plan, report incidents, threats, and hazards through the channels below, and complete the training.
• Compliance is managed, not assumed: {{org.name}} ensures employees and supervisors follow this plan through [training and retraining, supervision, recognition, and the disciplinary procedure for breaches]. The same rules apply to managers as to everyone else.

4. Employee involvement and coordination with other employers

{{org.name}} obtains the active involvement of employees and their authorized representatives in developing and implementing this plan — the law requires genuine involvement, not a signature on a finished document. Employees take part through [methods: safety meetings, a violence-hazard walk-through of each work area, surveys, the safety committee], including in identifying and evaluating hazards, shaping training, and reviewing incidents.

Where {{org.name}} shares a worksite with other employers — [staffing agencies, a landlord or center operator, contractors, delivery partners] — [name/role] coordinates this plan with theirs so every worker on site knows how to report violence, what the alarm signals mean, and who responds. [Describe the arrangement, e.g. shared procedures with the site operator; agency workers briefed before their first shift.]

5. Reporting violence — and no retaliation

• Report any incident, threat, or concern — including something you witnessed happening to someone else — to [supervisor or name/role] via [methods: in person, phone, form, app]. Reports can be made anonymously via [method].
• Retaliation against anyone who reports workplace violence in good faith is prohibited. No one's hours, shifts, duties, or standing will suffer for reporting, and retaliating is itself a disciplinary matter.
• [Name/role] responds to every report: acknowledgment within [timeframe], an investigation proportionate to the concern, and an answer back to the reporter on what was found and what will change.
• Concerns about this plan itself — a procedure that does not work, a hazard it misses — go to [name/role], and employees can raise workplace violence concerns with Cal/OSHA at any time.

6. Emergency response

• The alert for a violent emergency is [describe: code word or phrase, PA announcement, panic button, radio call]. Every employee learns it in training, and it means move now, not investigate.
• On an alert: get yourself, and anyone you can safely bring, to [safe location / out of the building via the routes in our emergency action plan]. When escape is not possible, [describe your protocol, e.g. lock or barricade in [rooms], stay low and silent].
• Call 911 as soon as it is safe — do not assume someone else has. [Name/role] meets responding officers at [location] with [site plan/camera access].
• After any violent emergency, the post-incident section below takes over — nobody re-enters or resumes work until [name/role] confirms it is safe.

7. Identifying, evaluating, and correcting hazards

[Name/role] inspects each work area for workplace violence hazards, with the employees who work there involved, at the times Labor Code 6401.9 requires: when this plan is first established, on a schedule at [frequency], after every violent incident, and whenever a new or previously unrecognized hazard becomes known. Findings go on the hazard register at [location/system].

What we look for depends on the work area. Examples for our operations: lone working and late-night hours; cash handling and visible high-value stock; unsecured or propped entrances and back doors; poor lighting in parking areas and around the premises; [alcohol service and intoxicated guests; agitated patients, families, or customers; crowding at peak times or during promotions].

Each identified hazard is corrected in a timely manner: [name/role] records the correction, its owner, and its completion date on the hazard register, and puts interim protection in place [e.g. paired working, additional staffing, a security presence] until the fix lands. Corrections favor measures that remove or reduce the hazard — [layout, lighting, secured entry, cash controls, staffing levels] — over a memo asking people to be careful.

8. Post-incident response and investigation

1. 1Make people safe first: first aid and medical attention, separation from the threat, and 911 where there is danger or injury.
2. 2Report any serious injury or illness, or death — including from workplace violence — to Cal/OSHA immediately, as title 8, section 342 requires. [Name/role] owns that call.
3. 3Preserve the scene and any recordings where practical, and identify witnesses.
4. 4Investigate with the involved employees' input: what happened, which type of violence it was, what circumstances and hazards made it possible, and whether this plan's procedures were followed and actually worked.
5. 5Complete the violent incident log entry and file the investigation record at [location/system].
6. 6Turn findings into corrective actions with owners and dates, offer affected employees [support: EAP, time off, adjusted duties, an escort to parking], and tell the workforce what has changed.

9. Violent incident log

{{org.name}} records every workplace violence incident in the violent incident log at [location/system] — including incidents that caused no injury. [Name/role] completes the entry within [timeframe], based on employee statements, witness statements, and investigation findings, and omits any personal identifying information that could identify anyone involved in the incident.

• Each entry records at least: the date, time, and location of the incident; the workplace violence type (1, 2, 3, and/or 4); a detailed description; a classification of who committed the violence; the circumstances at the time, such as working alone; the specific characteristics (physical attack, weapon involvement, threat, sexual assault, or other); the consequences, including any law enforcement involvement; the steps taken to protect employees from further harm; and the name, job title, and completion date of the person filling in the entry.
• Employees and their authorized representatives can examine and copy the log — and the other records under this plan — on request, free of charge, within 15 calendar days.

10. Training

Every employee covered by this plan is trained when the plan is first established or when they first become covered by it, and annually thereafter. When a new or previously unrecognized hazard is identified, or this plan changes, {{org.name}} provides additional training focused on that hazard or change. Training materials are matched to employees' education, reading level, and language, and records go to [system/location].

• This plan itself — how to obtain a free copy and how to participate in developing and implementing it.
• The definitions and requirements of Labor Code section 6401.9, including the four types of workplace violence.
• How to report incidents, threats, and concerns without fear of retaliation.
• The violence hazards specific to the employee's own job, the corrective measures in place, and what to do when violence occurs.
• The violent incident log — what it is for and how to obtain copies of it and the other records under this plan.
• An interactive question-and-answer opportunity with a person who knows this plan.

11. Plan review, records, and access

[Name/role] reviews this plan for effectiveness — with employee involvement — at least annually, after every workplace violence incident, and whenever a deficiency is observed or becomes apparent, and revises it as needed. Revisions trigger the focused retraining above.

Records are kept at [system/location] for at least the statutory minimums: hazard identification, evaluation, and correction records for five years; training records for one year; violent incident logs for five years; and incident investigation records for five years. The written plan remains easily accessible to employees, authorized representatives, and Cal/OSHA at all times. Owner: [name/role]. Next review due: [date].