What Tools Do Businesses Need to Prepare for California SB 553?

In just a few weeks, a new California workplace violence law will go into effect. The law requires nearly all California employers to have a written Workplace Violence Prevention Plan, keep a workplace violence incident log, provide training to employees regarding workplace violence, and track identified risks.?

California Senate Bill (SB) No. 553 goes into effect on July 1, 2024. Having all of the above in place by July 1 may seem a daunting task. However, with the right tools, any business — even a small one with no security department — can meet its requirements.

What tools do you need to be compliant with California SB 553?

1. A plan: A workforce violence plan at the heart of SB 553. This plan lays out the baseline for how you will keep your people safe. There are a number of ways to build this plan. For example, to assist organizations in creating their own plans, the California Division of Occupational Health and Safety (Cal/OSHA) has provided a model plan. While you may be tempted to download the template, fill in your own information, it’s better to use a template as an inspiration, and design your own plan, based on your own risk. This plan must also be reviewed by employees in the company.??
2. A team: Even if you are working with a small organization, you need designated personnel who will own the workplace violence plan as well as incident response and investigation. Decide who will review the incidents once they’ve been reported, and who will investigate the reports and determine what the response should be.?
3. Communication tools: A plan is no good to your business if no one knows about it. Decide what communication tools you will use to tell your staff about the plan, where they can find the plan and what their responsibilities are.?
4. A learning management system (LMS): The new law requires that your employees be trained regarding workplace violence. To distribute this training to your workforce, you will need to use an LMS that tracks their progress, and also allows you to update training content.
5. An incident reporting tool: Under SB 553, your team is required to allow your employees to report incidents and track reports of workplace violence. A digital tool that allows reports to be filed easily and tracks those reports is important. You might be tempted to use paper or a spreadsheet, but those methods can create more confusion; paper gets lost, and spreadsheets can get duplicated.?
6. A compliance tool: You need to do more than simply have a workplace violence plan. You must also be able to prove that you’re maintaining compliance with the plan. Using a physical security platform to track compliance and your sites’ inherent risk is an important and easy way to prove compliance with SB 553.?

Is there an all in one solution to meet SB 553?

California’s new law is forcing companies to become more proactive about preventing workplace violence. While this is a good step, it can seem overwhelming for businesses that have never had to plan for violence.?

Physical security assessment software makes assessing risk simple. A digital platform empowers your organization to easily assess your sites’ inherent risk and track remediation. This makes logging incidents and tracking risk simple.

Physical security assessment software, like Circadian Risk’s digital platform, serves as a single source of truth when it comes to your organization’s risk, and reduces the burden of manual assessment and risk analysis.?

Learn more about Circadian Risk’s response to SB 553 here.?