California workplace violence compliance

The incident may be over.Your responsibilities aren’t.

What California employers must do after workplace violence.

Respond to an incident Prepare before one happens

Your SB 553 action list

Retail shop · Customer assaulted an employee · No plan yet

Yes — this belongs in your violent incident log. Start there.

  1. Create the violent incident log entry: date, time, location, type of violence (1–4), what happened, response, consequences, and corrective actions. Exclude identifying information about people involved, but include the completer's name, job title, and completion date.
  2. Investigate: talk to witnesses, review any footage, and write down what you learned.
  3. Fix what you can — document the corrective action, who owns it, and the completion date.
  4. Review the plan after the incident (the law requires it) and note the review with a date, even if nothing changes.

+ 3 more steps in the full list

View official source →

What the law expects

Four core requirements for most covered employers.

If your workplace is covered, you generally need all four. The assessment checks your situation and shows what may be missing.

01

A written prevention plan

Specific to your workplace, including responsibility, reporting, response, employee participation, and hazard correction.

How the plan works →
02

Employee training

When the plan begins, annually after that, and when a new hazard or material change appears.

Training requirements →
03

A violent incident log

Covered incidents recorded without personal identifying information and kept for the required period.

See a fictional example →
04

Organized records

Plan, training, hazard, investigation, and incident records that can be located when requested.

What to keep →

After your result

Do it yourself, or hand it off.

Compared honestly

Compare professional help.

Compare software, trainers, consultants, and the official path to legal help. Every commercial listing is currently unpaid and labeled.

  • No lead form or incident details collected
  • Direct links to provider websites
  • Legal help through the State Bar’s certified directory
Training and software Consultants and legal referral
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Real situations

The questions owners search after something happens.

An employee is in the hospital. Does the 8-hour rule apply?See when Cal/OSHA reporting is required → A fight broke out. What must we document?The log, investigation, and plan review → A citation arrived. How long do we have?The 15-working-day appeal clock →

More guides: employee threat · customer assault · domestic threat · workplace death · inspection · log example · investigation checklist

FAQ

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No. SB553 Help is an independent educational site. Legal claims link to official California sources so you can verify them.

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No. Assessment answers stay in this browser and disappear when the tab closes. We never receive the facts of what happened.

Is the result legal advice?

No. It is general information with official citations. When legal advice may be appropriate, we point to the State Bar’s certified referral directory.

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