Harry Kazakian, President, USA Express Legal and Investigative Services and Secure Background Check. Licensed private investigator.
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A mass shooting at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority yard in 2021 became a catalyst for California legislators to pass a law requiring employers to create and maintain a workplace violence prevention plan, which went into effect in July 2024.
Since then, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), the agency responsible for protecting employees’ health and safety while on the job, has been working to spell out exactly what employers must include in their violence prevention plans, with their requirements set to take effect on January 1, 2027. The agency has until December 31 to adopt its detailed, enforceable standard.
Understanding The Scope Of Workplace Violence
I’ve spent more than three decades investigating what happens after something goes wrong in a workplace. This involves legwork: locating and getting your hands on surveillance footage, tracking down witnesses, reviewing communication and much more.
After you build the incident timeline, you often find there was some sort of signal—some warning sign that went unaddressed beforehand. An old report about a broken step or rotted railing. An overlooked witness statement. A doorbell camera video from down the street that no one thought to ask for. Foliage entirely covering a traffic sign.
Now consider what might be overlooked in workplace violence cases. Another heated shouting match in the lunchroom or parking lot—between the same two employees—dismissed as just an argument or personality conflict. An employee mentioning, “He’s blown up like that before.”
Bullying (yes, bullying) is often chalked up as harmless fun. (“Why can’t you take a joke?”) Consider Andy Bernard from The Office, who finally cracked when he’d had enough of Jim Halpert’s practical jokes and punched his fist through a wall. It may have been part of a sitcom but, unfortunately, workplace bullying is a real thing that happens.
Cal/OSHA’s current draft classifies four categories of workplace violence that must be considered. These outline violence committed by:
1. Someone who has no legitimate business entering the workplace.
2. Customers, clients, patients, etc.
3. A current or former employee, supervisor or manager.
4. Someone who doesn’t work there but has a past or present personal relationship with an employee.
What A Workplace Violence Prevention Plan Should Include
Each plan must include multiple elements addressing these four categories, tailored to the actual hazards and operations of each individual work area. The plan must also be reviewed annually and updated and adjusted as necessary. And while the state doesn’t specify this, I recommend also adding the policy to your employee handbook.
To begin building a sensible prevention plan, focus on the three R’s: real reporting, real documentation and real follow-through.
First, determine which specific person, people or team is responsible for the plan and what their roles are. This should not be left to human resources alone. Employees, or employee representatives, should be empowered to be directly involved in identifying, evaluating and correcting workplace violence hazards; creating and implementing training; and reporting and investigating incidents.
The scope of what should be considered depends on the workplace. In some workplaces, where there may be different types of work areas at the same location (for instance, one building is filled with partitioned desk areas while another is a giant warehouse), the violence prevention plan must address the needs of each specific area. In general, some good topics to consider include employees who work alone, uncontrolled access, identified escape routes (and having enough of them), poor lighting, public access, how money is handled and more.
Your plan should also give employees a clear, quick way to report a concern, including anonymously. Spell out exactly what happens after a report is received, and be rigorous about sticking to it. Who investigates? How quickly? What and when can the employee expect to hear back?
Since October of 2023, businesses have been required to keep and maintain a violent incident log, separate from routine personnel files. I recommend recording even those incidents that seem minor at the time, like that lunchroom argument or slammed door.
Cal/OSHA also requires that new employees be trained on the plan when they’re hired, and everyone must be trained on it once a year. These new rules raise the bar on how detailed and hazard-specific both the planning and the training must be.
How To Get The Most From Your Plan
The biggest gap I see in most companies is a culture where people sit on a concern for months. By the time anyone says something, it’s already heading toward an emergency. Establishing a few good habits can make a real difference:
1. Document specific behavior, not characterizations. “Jesse said he’d ‘make someone pay’ after being written up on March 4” is useful. “Jesse seems off lately” is not.
2. Protect the reporter. Fear of retaliation is often what keeps people quiet in the first place. Take it seriously when an employee needs a restraining order related to a workplace threat. As of January 2025, California law also allows a union representative to petition on an employee’s behalf.
3. Get help before the situation escalates. If the situation calls for working with legal counsel, an investigator or a security consultant, do so sooner rather than later. It’s already gone too far if law enforcement becomes involved.
Final Thoughts
State regulations can’t guarantee that something like the VTA shooting never happens again, but one of the best ways employers can catch trouble early is to build a plan based on solid reporting, documentation and meaningful follow-through. It also leaves a strong record if the worst happens.
California businesses that started their violence prevention plans back in 2024 already have a head start on Cal/OSHA’s coming standard. If you haven’t, the best time to start is now.
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