Brett A. Overby, left, and Alexander Volberding, right, of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore. Courtesy photos.
This year, California became the first state to enact a comprehensive workplace violence prevention law that applies to virtually all employers and industries. By July 1, all covered employers must adopt and implement a workplace violence prevention plan, or WVPP, and train their employees on the WVPP be in order to be compliance with the law.
The state’s leadership in this area is no surprise, as California commonly leads the way on matters intended to protect workers from preventable workplace harms. For example, in 2006, California became the first state to establish a comprehensive heat illness prevention standard, which other states, like Washington and Oregon, adopted thereafter to provide workers in those states similar protections. California’s workplace violence prevention law is likely to inspire similar measures by other states that are concerned about protecting workers from violence and threats of violence at work.
