Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S) is the responsible department for overseeing the campuswide Workplace Violence Prevention Program.
- Overview
- Workplace Violence Prevention Plan
- What to Report
- How to Report
- Employee Training Requirements
- Workplace Violence Hazard Assessment
- Resource and Policy Links
Overview
The University of California, Berkeley is committed to fostering a safe, inclusive, and supportive work environment for all of our faculty, staff, and students.
Physical violence, and threats of violence, are prohibited in the University of California, Berkeley workplace. Anyone who observes such behavior or believes a credible threat of such behavior exists, or is a victim of such conduct, is encouraged to immediately report it to the University. Managers and supervisors who observe or learn of such conduct are required to report it to the University.
Workplace Violence Prevention Plan
In accordance with State law (California Labor Code, Section 6401.9), UC Berkeley has established, implemented, and maintains a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan. This Plan is available to all employees and applies to and is in effect at all times in every unit, service, and operation. The plan is available at ehs.berkeley.edu/wpvp.
What to Report
Workplace violence means any act of violence or threat of violence that occurs in a place of employment. It includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- The threat or use of physical force against an employee that results in, or has a high likelihood of resulting in, injury, psychological trauma, or stress, regardless of whether the employee sustains an injury.
- An incident involving a threat or use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon, including the use of common objects as weapons, regardless of whether the employee sustains an injury.
How to Report
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Procedures for reporting workplace violence or the threat of workplace violence:
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In an emergency, or to report violence in progress, call 911 or 510-642-3333 (UCPD emergency line).
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To report a credible threat of violence: call 510-642-6760 (UCPD non-emergency line)
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To report past incidents of workplace violence, or non-urgent threats of workplace violence: submit a ELR HR Service Hub ticket via the Employee & Labor Relations website
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To report workplace violence, or threats of workplace violence, that include sexual violence or involve harassment of a member of a protected category: submit an online report or contact the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (OPHD) at 510-643-7985 or ask_ophd@berkeley.edu
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To report retaliation for having made a report of workplace violence (or threats thereof), or for having participated in an investigation of workplace violence (or threats thereof), submit an online report or call the Whistleblower Hotline
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Procedures for submitting incident reports to the Workplace Violence Reporting Portal for inclusion in the workplace violence incident log
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Offices (UCPD, OPHD, ELR) receiving reports involving workplace violence shall notify EH&S via the online Workplace Violence Online Reporting tool or WPVP@berkeley.edu
Individuals may also submit information about workplace violence to the Workplace Violence Reporting Portal or WPVP@berkeley.edu.
Employee Training Requirements
An annual training requirement for employees has been rolled out to educate our community on recognizing potential signs of workplace violence and the appropriate actions to take in response.
The training takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. If you have questions about the training or why you were assigned the training, please contact ehstrain@berkeley.edu.
Workplace Violence Hazard Assessment
Departments and Building Managers must assess workplace violence hazards specific to their areas. This includes the identification, evaluation, and correction of workplace violence hazards, and maintaining such records for review by EH&S and CalOSHA upon request. Hazard assessments must also be completed after a workplace violence incident.