Q: What situations in the workplace might place my employees at risk of workplace violence?
A: The factors that place employees at risk will be specific to your workplace.  Common factors which might place your employees at risk include: working in public settings; working late night or early morning hours; exchanging money with the public; working alone or in small numbers; working in a location where public access to the workplace is uncontrolled; or working in areas with previous security problems.

Q: Are aggressive actions or behaviors by students, clients, or patients, especially those who may be minors, have a developmental disability or  are experiencing a crisis, considered to be workplace violence?
A: Yes, workplace violence may originate from many sources. In the workplace violence prevention program, employers are responsible for developing procedures for preventing and responding to the incidents that are likely to occur in their workplace.  This may include engaging with mental health professionals, emergency services and law enforcement, crisis intervention services or, in the case of minors, parents or guardians.

Q: How often must employers provide workplace violence prevention training to employees?
A: Training and information on the risk of workplace violence must be provided when an employee is initially assigned to a workplace and at least once a year after that.  In addition, whenever significant changes are made to the workplace violence prevention program, the employer must inform the employees who are impacted.

Q: How often must employers review the workplace violence incidents report?
A: The employer, with participation of an authorized representative, must review the workplace violence incidents report at least once a year to identify trends in the types of workplace incidents that have occurred and evaluate how effective any actions the employer has taken have been at preventing or reducing the risk of workplace violence. The results of this review should be incorporated into the workplace violence prevention program and employee training.

Q: Does the evaluation of the physical environment have to be done annually?
A: No. Only the evaluation of the workplace violence incidents report and employee training must be completed annually. Employers are encouraged to evaluate physical workplaces when facilities are changed and on a regular basis to assess the functionality of equipment, such as locks and security cameras.

Q: The workplace I manage is developing a pattern of violent incidents involving criminal conduct against employees.  What am I required to do to protect my employees?
A: As the employer, you must engage with law enforcement to report violent crimes so that they may be investigated and appropriately prosecuted. Employers must also provide employees with information on how to engage with law enforcement as well as contact information for any employee who wishes to file a criminal complaint after a workplace violence incident.

Q: I manage three workplaces in different locations. Does each work location need its own workplace violence prevention program, or can I use one program for all locations?
A: A single workplace prevention program can be used across the different work locations managed by an employer. However, a separate risk evaluation for each workplace location is required.  The risk factors for each workplace location and the safeguards implemented to address them must be listed in the workplace violence prevention program. If there are different risk factors for the three workplaces you manage, the program must contain specific information on the identified risk factors and safeguards implemented for each site.

Q: Can workplace violence incident reports be filled out and kept digitally rather than as a physical paper copy?
A: Yes. The regulations specify the workplace violence incident report can be in any format, including digital. Employers can decide which method of record keeping works best for them.

Q: I am a small public employer with only 15 employees. Am I required to develop and implement a written workplace violence prevention program?
A: No. Only public employers with 20 or more full-time permanent employees are required to develop and implement a written workplace violence prevention program. All employers, regardless of size, are encouraged to use the workplace violence prevention program template provided by NYSDOL available here: https://dol.ny.gov/wpv-program-general-template-attachment.

Q: My workplace already has a reporting system for employees to report incidents involving injuries and violence.  As an employer, must I develop a new reporting system to comply with the workplace prevention law?
A: No. The law doesn’t require an additional or separate reporting system as long as the current system can record or can be modified to record the following information about each workplace violence incident:

• The location where the incident occurred.
• The time of day or shift when the incident occurred.
• A detailed description of the incident, including events leading up to the incident and how the incident ended.
• The names and job titles of all employees involved (unless privacy is a concern).
• The name or another method of identifying other individuals involved.
• The nature and extent of the injuries arising from the incident.
• The name of witnesses.

Q: What does the workplace violence risk evaluation have to include?
A: The risk evaluation must include: an examination of any records of workplace violence incidents throughout the previous year; an assessment of any relevant policies, work practices, and work procedures that may impact employee’s risk of workplace violence; and an evaluation of the physical workplace to determine what factors are present that could put employees at risk of workplace violence.

Q: What must be included in a workplace violence prevention program?
A: The workplace violence prevention program must include:

• the list of workplace violence risk factors identified in the risk evaluation.
• the safeguards you as an employer will use to reduce or eliminate the risk of workplace violence. For each risk factor identified in the risk evaluation you must implement a safeguard to reduce the risk of violence to employees.
• a ranking of the safeguards your workplace violence prevention program will use to reduce the risk of workplace violence from most effective to least effective.
• an outline or lesson plan for employee training on workplace violence.
• a description of your workplace violence reporting system.
• a plan to review workplace violence incidents report annually.
• a description of how information will be kept confidential for security reasons.

Q: Should workplace violence incidents that cause a work-related death or injury also be reported on the PESH Log of Injuries and Illnesses (SH-900)?
A: Yes. Workplace violence incidents that cause a work-related death or an injury that meets the recording criteria of the PESH log of injuries and illnesses should be recorded on both the PESH log and the workplace violence incidents report. For more on the PESH log of injuries and illness, visit the PESH website linked here: https://dol.ny.gov/public-employee-safety-health

Q: What types of safeguards can I, as an employer, implement to eliminate or reduce the risk of workplace violence to my employees?
A: The safeguards implemented by an employer will depend on the type of risks present in your workplace.  As an employer, you could implement physical changes to the workplace to reduce or eliminate the risk of workplace violence. You could also change work practices to reduce the likelihood of violent incidents and to better protect staff and others should a violent incident occur. You could supply employees with personal protective equipment as well.
Examples of physical changes include: improving lighting in outdoor areas for better visibility; controlling access to certain areas with locked doors; or installing security technologies such as metal detectors, surveillance cameras, or panic buttons. Examples of changes to work practices include: implementing procedures and/or itineraries to account for employees who work alone; training staff in de-escalation techniques; or making sure all employees have methods to communicate like cell phones or panic buttons.  Examples of personal protective equipment include supplying law enforcement personnel with body armor or supplying healthcare workers with bite-resistant sleeves.

Q: Am I required to have employees participate in the development and implementation of the workplace violence prevention program?
A: Yes, as an employer you must solicit input on situations in the workplace that pose a threat of workplace violence from your employees’ authorized representative.  In addition, you must solicit input on the workplace violence prevention program you intend to implement from the authorized employee representative. You must also allow for employee participation in the annual review of the workplace violence incident report and the evaluation of the physical workplace.

Q: As an employer, do I have to inform the employee that submitted a workplace violence incident report of the results of the investigation into the workplace violence incident?
A:  Employers aren’t required by the Workplace Violence Prevention Law to share this information but may choose to provide follow up information in accordance with applicable policies, regulations and laws.

Q: An employee was injured in a sexual assault in the workplace and I am concerned for their privacy.   Can I keep their name out of the workplace violence incidents report?
A: Yes. The law states that an injury or illness resulting from sexual assault is considered a privacy concern case.  In these cases, the employer must remove the names of employees who were victims of workplace violence and write “Privacy Concern Case” in its’ place before sharing the workplace violence incidents report with anyone except the Department of Labor.  Incidents involving the following injuries or illnesses should also be treated as privacy concern cases: an injury or illness to an intimate body part or the reproductive system; mental illness; HIV infection; and needle stick injuries and cuts from sharp objects that are or may be contaminated with another person’s blood.

Q: What is considered a “reasonable opportunity” for me as an employer to fix a violation reported by an employee?
A: A reasonable opportunity is the amount of time it should reasonably take for you as the employer to investigate and fix the violation once they have been alerted to it and determined that a serious violation exists.