/>iThe recent tragic attack at an office building in New York and the loss and pain felt by its survivors and those affected leave many employers wondering what more they can do to protect their employees and locations. In California, most businesses must have a comprehensive Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (WVPP) as a result of a law passed in the aftermath of an active shooter incident. Employers’ WVPPs must include numerous provisions specifically designed to prepare for that specific threat.
Two WVPP requirements are coordination and communication. Employers must “coordinate . . . the plan with other employers, when applicable, to ensure that those employers and employees understand their respective roles . . . .” Each WVPP must also contain procedures to communicate with employees, alerting them to “the presence, location, and nature of workplace violence emergencies.”
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) has issued a WVPP model plan and draft proposed regulations, but neither document provides detailed recommendations on how to coordinate a WVPP with another employer or effective emergency communications. This is mostly due to the variety of business types and locations—what works for a standalone retailer will not work for an office building or a construction site. The list of “work practice controls” in Cal/OSHA’s new proposed draft regulation, which essentially mirrors the Model WVPP’s list of workplace hazards and corrections, may offer insight into what employers, especially those in dense locations such as high-rises and office buildings, should consider when coordinating efforts and determining how to best communicate a threat.
First, employers must identify their team member responsible for the WVPP, as required by law, to begin coordinating efforts. Employers should put that person in touch with their counterparts at other relevant locations. For instance, in a high-rise or office building, the relevant counterparts are likely the building manager and the security company. Security professionals often discuss a strategy of “defense in depth” or “rings” that reinforce each other and provide a bulwark if the outer rings are penetrated. In an office building, employers should coordinate with the management and security company on how they will recognize and respond to threats at the outermost ring, and how their security, such as automated security software or other security features, could send information or warnings to tenants.
Second, effective coordination requires thoughtful contingency planning. If building management and security respond to an incident by locking down elevators or exterior doors, consider how this information will reach others. If they lock the elevators and an active shooter enters a stairwell, think about how others will know, so employees can be advised of the best way to protect themselves.
Finally, in an emergency, employers’ communication needs to be simple and effectively reach employees. Communications about threats must convey the presence, location, and nature of the emergency, both to be legally compliant and practically useful. Software and hardware solutions to communicate in an emergency are available, so consider a communication solution that would work in the real world. For example, if the plan is to have the person at the front desk sound an alarm, do the hard but necessary thought-experiment of what happens if that person is unable to alert others.
Ultimately, there is no substitute for the time-consuming and mentally (and emotionally) exhausting work of preparing for what if. Employers should keep in mind that the law also requires employers to review their WVPP annually.
