On September 30, 2023, Governor Gavin Newson signed Senate Bill (SB) 553, which requires all employers to establish, implement, and maintain an effective Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (WVPP). The law takes effect on July 1, 2024. Cal/OSHA is responsible for enforcing the requirements of SB 553, which is now codified in California Labor Code Section 6401.9.

The new law requires Districts to develop specific procedures and training to identify and respond to workplace violence and various types of threats of violence.

Cal/OSHA just published a Model Workplace Violence Prevention Plan that you can find on their website as well as within our CAPRI Portal under Forms Manuals, and Templates.  The Model WVPP is designed to assist our Districts in drafting their own plans. Districts are not required to use Cal/OSHA’s model but may use it as a template. The Model WVPP has many questions and examples for Districts to consider when they assess the risks of their workplaces.

Cal/OSHA also published a Fact Sheet for Employers on the requirements.  The Fact Sheet provides an overview of the requirements of:

• Creating a workplace violence prevention plan
• Violent incident log requirements
• Employer responsibilities with workplace violence recordkeeping
• Training employees on workplace violence

If CAPRI member districts have any questions about the Workplace Violence Prevention Plan or OSHA's model plan, please contact Kirk Andre at kandre@capri-jpa.org.