Lesson Last Updated: April 12, 2024

Lesson Highlights

After living through a global pandemic that (at the very least) threw workplaces into chaos, it makes more sense than ever to have illness and injury prevention programs in place. However, it’s not just a “smart to have,” it’s also legally required for almost all employers! 

In this lesson, we’ll cover:

• The general Illness and Injury Prevention Program requirements;
• California’s COVID-19 prevention requirements; and
• The newest prevention requirement: the Workplace Violence Prevention Plan.

General Illness and Injury Prevention Program Requirements

Effective July 1, 1991, ALL California employers with at least one (1) employee are required to have an effective Injury and Illness Prevention Program (“IIPP”), and it needs to be in a form that’s understood by all employees. With very limited exceptions, the IIPP is required to be in writing, and it needs to address the following nine (9) topics:

1. Responsibility;
2. Compliance;
3. Communication;
4. Hazard assessment;
5. Accident/exposure investigation;
6. Hazard correction;
7. Training and instruction;
8. Access; and
9. Recordkeeping. [1]

Within each topic, there are specific requirements for information that needs to be communicated in the IIPP, so it’s important to understand that this is almost always a fairly long document. You almost certainly cannot meet your legal obligations by simply stuffing these nine (9) items into your employee handbook. 

It’s also worth noting that Cal/OSHA, the government body in charge of ensuring employee safety at work, publishes a list of its most frequently issued citations each year, and for the years of 2015 through 2022, the #1 most cited standard was related to insufficient IIPPs (or lack thereof). [2] We don’t have the data for 2023 yet, but it’s likely that this will be the #1 most cited standard yet again. 

Penalties for failure to comply vary, but the maximum penalty for “General and Regulatory violations, including Posting and Recordkeeping” violations is $15,873 per violation, as of 2024! [3] So even though there will be significant time and/or money spent to create your IIPP, it will be cheaper than a Cal/OSHA violation, and way less of a headache!

California’s COVID-19 Prevention Requirements

On December 15, 2022, California adopted non-emergency COVID-19 prevention regulations for that apply to most workplaces, and which took effect on February 3, 2023, and these regulations remain in effect until February 3, 2025.

The regulations include some of the same requirements found in the COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards from during the pandemic, but they’ve also eased some requirements, making it easier for employers to comply.

One of the requirements is that all employers address COVID-19 as a workplace hazard, either directly in the IIPP or in a separate document. [4] Similar to the IIPP, failure to address COVID-19 prevention was also a cited standard, ranking at #6 most cited standard in 2021, and #4 in 202. [2] Penalties for non-compliance also apply.

Workplace Violence Prevention Plan

Starting July 1, 2024, the majority of employers in California must establish, implement, and maintain a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (“WVPP”) that addresses the following eleven (11) topics:

1. Responsibility;
2. Procedures for implementation;
3. Compliance;
4. Communication;
5. Hazard assessment;
6. Emergency response protocols;
7. Accident investigation and post-incident response;
8. Hazard correction;
9. Training and instruction;
10. Review protocols; and
11. Recordkeeping. 

Similar to the IIPP, within each topic of the WVPP, there are specific requirements for information that needs to be communicated. The WVPP can be addressed either directly in the IIPP or in a separate document. [5] There will be penalties for non-compliance, and undoubtedly, this will also become a frequently cited standard for Cal/OSHA.

Unlike the IIPP and COVID-19 prevention requirements, there are some exceptions to who needs to have a WVPP. They are as follows:

• Certain healthcare facilities that are required to follow more rigorous workplace violence prevention program standards (which were pre-existing to this law);
• Employers with employees teleworking from locations of the employees’ choice and not under the control of their employer; and 
• Places of employment with fewer than ten (10) employees and that are not accessible to the public. 

But of course, even if your workplace is exempt from the WVPP requirements, you are not exempt from the other two (2) requirements we covered here. So hopefully you get the picture: every single employer in California needs a Comprehensive Illness and Injury Prevention Program. 

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This Lesson’s Sources:

[1] Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8 § 3203

[2] Department of Industrial Relations, Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards

[3] Department of Industrial Relations, Cal/OSHA Increases Civil Penalty Amounts for 2024

[4] Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8 § 3205

[5] Cal. Lab. Code § 6401.9