Rancho Mesa's Alyssa Burley and Client Communications Coordinator Megan Lockhart discuss Senate Bill 553 that was recently signed into law, which addresses preventing workplace violence.

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SB 553: Governor Signs New Law for Workplace Violence Prevention Requirements⁠⁠
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Director/Host: ⁠Alyssa Burley⁠

Guest: ⁠Megan Lockhart⁠

Producer/Editor: ⁠Lauren Stumpf⁠

Music: "Home" by JHS Pedals, “News Room News” by Spence

© Copyright 2023. Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

Transcript

Alyssa Burley: This episode is brought to you by Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies, BHHC, a leading national writer of Workers Compensation Insurance. Our AM best rating of A-Plus Plus 15 enables us to offer coverage for a wide variety of businesses under all market conditions. BHHC is committed to providing injured workers with compassionate care and access to timely, high quality medical treatment and support. Our loss control services, proactive claim management, medical cost containment and fraud prevention contribute to superior claim outcomes for our policyholders.

AB: Hi, this is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa's Media Communications and Client Services Department. Thank you for listening to today's top Rancho Mesa news, brought to you by our Safety and Risk Management Network, StudioOne. Welcome back, everyone. My guest is Megan Lockhart, Client Communications Coordinator with Rancho Mesa. Today, we're going to talk about Senate Bill 553 that was recently signed into law. It addresses preventing workplace violence. Megan, welcome to the show.

Megan Lockhart: Thanks for having me, Alyssa.

AB: So SB 553 covers a lot of different requirements regarding violence in the workplace, including adding recordkeeping requirements, additions to the Injury and Illness Prevention Program and expanded training. Before we get into the details, Megan, how does SB 553 define workplace violence and what types of incidents are included in this category?

ML: Yeah, so workplace violence is any act or threat of violence that occurs in a place of employment. The law applies to both verbal and written threats of violence and incidents involving use of a dangerous weapon, regardless of whether an employee sustains an injury. The law applies to both verbal and written threats of violence and incidents involving any use of a dangerous weapon. The employee doesn't even need to sustain an injury. And it also includes incidents of psychological trauma or stress, regardless of whether the employee sustained an injury as well

AB: Interesting. That definition covers a broad spectrum of incidents.

ML: Yeah, they do.

AB: Will you expand on the recordkeeping that will be expected of employers for these types of incidents?

ML: Yeah. So while many companies are already required to record work related injuries now, employers also must record every workplace violence incident, in a violent incident log. The log includes information about each incident, such as the date, time and location, a detailed description of the incident, the people involved, the type of violence and the consequences of the incident, so what happened in the investigation. And the log must be retained for five years.

AB: So does SB 553 affect the Incident and Injury Prevention Program or the IIPP, and what additions will need to be made in order to meet these standards?

ML: Yeah, companies must have a written Workplace Violence Prevention Plan in addition to their IIPP. The Workplace Violence Prevention Plan can be a separate document or it can be added to their existing IIPP, but it must be accessible to employees.

AB: All right. What needs to be included in the new Workplace Violence Prevention Plan?

ML: So the plan must include what employees are responsible for creating and implementing the plan, the procedures the company will follow in the event of a violent incident, depending on its type, how the procedures will be enforced, so how employees and supervisors will be guided to comply, and how the company will communicate to employees after the incident, how they will communicate how to keep record of the incident procedures and also investigation results. They will also need to include how to identify hazards and what corrective procedures to follow, investigating and responding after the incident occurred, and they will also have to have an annual evaluation of the plans, effectiveness and make necessary edits if needed. And also, lastly, the plan will also need to include methods for implementing the training and procedures outlined in the plan.

AB: And all of that seems pretty consistent to what's required for similar programs. So employers will now be required to maintain incident records and have a written prevention plan. Is there a training requirement?

ML: Yes, there is. SB 553 requires that employers provide workplace violence prevention training to their employees. Training should inform employees of their company's procedures for handling workplace violence and also how to access the written Workplace Violence Prevention Plan. The training topics should also cover how to report workplace violence, how to respond and seek help in the event of an incident, strategies to avoid physical harm, implementing corrective measures and information about accessing the violent incident log.

AB: All right, so how often will employees and supervisors need to be trained?

ML: All employees, including supervisors, will need annual workplace violence prevention training, and employers will need to retain training records for at least one year.

AB: For our listeners who aren't familiar, Rancho Mesa's SafetyOne™ platform and HR Portal offer a range of trainings related to this law like preventing workplace violence, security in the workplace and workplace stress. So, Megan, when will SB 553 take effect?

ML: The law technically becomes enforceable on July 1st, 2024, but Cal OSHA Standards Board will need to adopt the new standards no later than December 31st of 2025. And I'll also add, though, that there are some exemptions to the law. Organizations with workplaces who are not open to the public and have less than ten employees working at one time don't have to adapt to these new standards, as well as employees working from a remote location or in health care facilities.

AB: Okay. So I'd say it's a good idea for those nonexempt companies to begin preparing now. If clients want to access our training materials, who should they contact?

ML: So Rancho Mesa will continue to keep clients informed as more resources and information is released. But clients can contact their Client Technology Coordinator for access to training materials.

AB: All right. Well, Megan, thanks so much for joining me in StudioOne.

ML: Yeah, thanks, Alyssa.

AB: This is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa. Thanks for tuning into our latest episode produced by StudioOne. For more information, visit us at ranchomesa.com, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.