Violence was the third leading cause of workplace death in 2017, killing 66 workers and accounting for 18 percent of all fatal occupational injuries in California. 70 percent of these deaths were homicides, and the majority of these were intentional shootings by another person. Violence is the leading cause of workplace death for women — one third of the women killed at work in 2017 were victims of violence.
In 2016, California became the first state in the nation to adopt an occupational safety and health standard for workplace violence prevention (WVP) in the healthcare sector. Worksafe and our allies are now pushing for a WVP standard that would apply beyond healthcare to general industry. In late 2018, Cal/OSHA released draft language for a WVP general industry standard that closely mirrors the healthcare version.
In 2023, SB 553 (Cortese) Workplace Violence Prevention was passed for general industry, requiring that employers develop and implement a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan which includes identifying and evaluating hazards and training employees on mitigation.
Worksafe is leading continuing efforts to see implementation and enforcement of these important worker protections.
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