California Safety Plans: What you need to know

California has adopted the federal requirements for written safety plans for specific activities (e.g., bloodborne pathogens exposure control plan, hazard communication plan) in both private and public (state and local government) sector workplaces, and has adopted additional stricter rules for written safety plans for bloodborne pathogens, fire prevention, and HAZWOPER. See the respective state regulatory analysis topic for more information.

All employers in California must establish, implement, and maintain a written Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) for each workplace. There is no corresponding federal requirement for a written program. Failure to have a written IIPP is consistently among the top 10 most frequently violated workplace safety and health rules in the state.

California’s Department of Industrial Relations/Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) administers and enforces the state workplace safety and health requirements for private and public (state and local government operations) sector workplaces.

Cal/OSHA requires all employers to have a written IIPP for each place of employment. The IIPP must include all of the following information:

• The name of the person responsible for implementing the program
• Injury and illness investigation procedures for identifying and then correcting job hazards
• Provisions for employee training and instruction
• A communications system
• Procedures to ensure employees comply with safety rules.

Documentation required. A copy of the IIPP must be kept at each workplace or at a central worksite if the employer has mobile worksites.

Certain workplaces are not required ...